Reviving Ashes
by cheezebuns
Summary: Three years after the Rebellion, she feels she can finally put the past behind her. Married to Peeta, it's a chance to be happy. But no. An abrupt turn of events puts her on the edge of her life, and what's worse, she's being threaten with loved ones she thought she already lost. They'll break her. They've taken him. The dead ones live and the live ones will die.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is pre-epilogue, although it's not exactly what you guess happens in the book. Katniss and Peeta's pursuit of living normally is being threaten again, and now they're being threaten with loved ones they thought were gone. Sorry for the wait, ( the readers who've read BH). The 1st chap is always the hardest for me. Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 1

I can't believe I'm doing this.

I've always told myself I wasn't going to get married or have children, but here I am, walking to the Justice Building with my hand in Peeta's. I want to marry him; I love Peeta, but it's funny how I went completely against my younger self's ideas. I'm very different from the girl four years ago, before that Reaping Day.

Peeta and I walk ahead of everyone into town. The only people accompanying us are Haymitch, Greasy Sae, her family, and Thom. I can feel the sweat on my hands. I guess I'm nervous, but there's nothing that will change my mind now. We have this mutual love of protecting each other. And this not just the love I have of people to protect them, but he makes me happy. He cheers me up when despairing memories uphold my mind, and when nightmares wake me up in the middle of the night.

We reach the steps of the Justice Building. I slightly shiver from the morning fall wind on my arms. I'm only wearing a shawl over my dress, and so Peeta doesn't hesitate to notice and hold me close to him.

"You ready to do this?" he asks.

"Absolutely ready," I answer.

He smiles one of those smiles that lights up a room, and then takes my hand again. We walk into the building, the others trailing along.

A smiling, bellied man leads us to the front of a court room. Then begins the District 12 process of a legal marriage . The minister is speaking, but during the whole thing, I can't draw my eyes away from Peeta's.

Put before us are the forms to register our marriage. The minister hands me a pen. "Sign here to officially bind you in marriage with this man," he says. I take the pen in my moist hand and sign my name on a line. I give back to him and he gives it Peeta. "Sign here to officially bind you in marriage with this woman." When he finishes he smiles at me, because now we are legitimately married.

"I understand that there is something you wanted to add to the ceremony?" says the minister to Peeta. I look to at him questionably, not expecting any kind of special tradition taking place at the signing. That's usually what the toasting is for.

"There is," Peeta says. He reaches into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out a silver ring with the pearl he gave me as its stone.

Rings aren't popularly used in District 12 weddings, but I smile at how much this little object means to me now. I watch as he puts it on my finger and it feels so alien to me, but wonderful. The minister pronounces us married, and Peeta doesn't hesitate to kiss me. I put my arms around his neck and press our lips together for several seconds till we remember we have an audience.

We all walk outside into the cold, and receive congratulations and hugs. We had planned for the rest of the ceremony to take place at Peeta's house. The night before, the two of us spent baking our cake and the bread for the toasting. He did most of it, but I helped in what Peeta allowed me to do, considering I'm not much of a cook as he is.

"It's freezing out here," complains Haymitch. "You guys can further boast about your happiness indoors."

"Alright Haymitch," Peeta says teasingly. He pats him on the back and then he holds onto my hand and we walk back to _our_ home. Because I live there now, don't I?

Greasy Sae is joking around about her little grand-daughter getting married, which makes the little girl scowls, finding it absurd because she doesn't like boys. Thom, Peeta, and I are laughing when I spot someone sitting on the steps of my house next door. I stop laughing and find I can tell who it is from this distance.

She stands up and walks toward us. Her hair has turned lighter with grey, and her pale complexion brightens her blue eyes. Prim's eyes.

"Mother," I say surprised.

"Katniss dear, look how much you've grown," she says with a sad smile.

"Well, that's what happens when you haven't seen your daughter in three years," I utter plainly.

Her smile turns in a limp line. "I came to see you at your wedding, but my train arrived late. I just decided to wait here till you came back."

"You missed the signing, but we're having the ceremony in our home," says Peeta. He just didn't want to give me the time to come up with a remark. "We like it you'd stay with us."

"Why thank you, Peeta. Congratulations to you both," she says. Peeta goes to unlock the door and I'm left to walk with my mother. "We have lots to catch up on, don't we?" she says.

I'm at Peeta's side the whole time, because I just don't feel up to having alone time with my mother. She leads the traditional song while Peeta and I enter through the threshold of the home. She smiles tenderly when we have the toasting, and later on, while she talks to Greasy Sae of my childhood, she seems to be beaming.

Hands touch my shoulder, and I turn my head to see Peeta behind me. He leans toward my ear and speaks softly. "You know," he says. "She's the only family you have left, and I don't think she would've come if she didn't want to make amends with you."

"You're my family now," I say.

He kisses my head. "But she's your mother."

I take a deep breath and nod my head. "I'll try…" He turns his head and kisses me gently. We walk back to group, and join in conversation. At first the least I do is to hold my resentment and not make any bad remarks. I add a small laugh or two. My mother gains a pleased expression when eventually she sees I'm not acting to like this. I guess I'm not acting.

"Well, good night to you both," says Haymitch. "I'll just take this bottle here, for the memory. You guys don't have too much fun, alright?"

"_Haymitch_," I say threateningly.

Haymitch only laughs at me, and walks down the steps and to his house. He waves at us and Peeta is the only one who waves back. Peeta and I enter the house. My mother has just finished helping us clean in the kitchen.

"I should head to the house," she says. Mother wanted to stay in my home next door. I talk to her about how she'll be alone, but she insisted.

"I'll walk with you," I say.

"I'll be alright."

"No, I want to." She nods and I pick up her bag. Peeta says he'll stay to finish cleaning up. He gives me an encouraging smile before my mother and I walk outside. When we reach the house, she takes the bag from me and then puts her hand in it.

"I have something to give you," she says. She takes out an envelope and hands it to me. "It's a letter from Hazelle, the children, and one from Gale."

"From Gale?" She only nods. She hands me the letters, kisses me on the forehead, and then goes into the house. I walk back, letter in hand, wondering about what this sudden attempt of communication from him means.

I sit on the couch in our home with the letters in hand. I'm deciding whether or not to open them now. I hear Peeta come from kitchen. "What's that?" he asks.

"It's a letter. From Hazelle…" I decide to stop there because whatever it is, it could bring my happy moment and good mood to a halt. And what if it's not bad? Just because I haven't spoken to him in years, doesn't mean the first form of contact from him will be bad news. I think it is best to just wait to read it tomorrow. "I'll read it in the morning. Let's go to bed," I say.

Peeta dismisses it and holds out a hand. "Right this way Mrs. Mellark," he says in a far too formal tone. Grinning, I take his hand and we go up stairs.

I realize what tonight means. As we both get ready for bed, I'm getting nervous. It's normal right? Peeta and I of course _sleep together _all the time, but I've never let myself become so intimate. There have been times when I experience the familiar warmth that I felt on the beach in the Quarter Quell, but I'm never let myself get any father than that. It's my fault. I'm wary of how vulnerable a person becomes, and let's face it. I'm not the lovely, seductive, passasionate kind of girl. But I do know I love Peeta.

I splash water on my face in the bathroom and brush my hair out of its waves my braid causes. I look in the mirror and I see the scars on my arms and the faint burn marks. How can I call myself beautiful? With a past as ugly as mine, it's hard to say I'm one to be called comely or romantic. No, these scars are part of me, and I wouldn't be here thinking about this if Peeta didn't love me like I do him.

I take a deep breath and continue to gaze at myself in the mirror, encouraging some needed confidence. In the reflection, I see the wall behind me with the small blurry bathroom window. It darkens, like something is blocking it from the outside.

Someone is out there.

I watch the dark form change shape, there's a click, and then the all too familiar sound of a gun firing instantly makes me drop to the ground.

It fires three times, but I can't feel any bullets go through me as I fall to the ground and put my hands over my head. I feel the shards of the mirror fall all over me and the sting of them on my skin. I hear the rustling of the gunman outside from the broken window. I get on my feet, ignoring the broken pieces on the ground, and look to the window.

Within the second, Peeta darts through the door to me in his pajama pants and a t-shirt. He doesn't look harmed. "Katniss, are you alright? Did you get hit?" He takes my arms and holds them to the light. "Oh no, you're bleeding."

"Otherwise, I'm okay," I say.

"No, you're bleeding a lot. We have to get you help now."

"Wait, I saw them. They're outside, but they're getting away…"

"You're losing a lot of blood, and right now we just need to stop the bleeding before you go into shock."

Before I say anymore, he goes to cabinet and takes out the first-aid kit and begins taking things out. I begin to notice the stream of blood beginning to form on the floor, and the streaks on my arms. I begin to worry that this scene of blood everywhere and the gun fire will cause one of his flashbacks, but it would have started by now. He's still in control of himself.

I sit on the side of the tub, and Peeta quickly tends to my legs and arms, pulling out shards, washing, and bandaging. "You'll be alright," he says. I notice he looks fearful, but how can he not when suddenly a gun goes off and you find you new wife covered in blood?

I begin to feel slightly light-headed, and the bathroom begins to spin. The next thing I feel is Peeta's arms under me, carrying me to bed. I lay down, while Peeta stays at my side. At one point my mother is there and she's getting me to drink water, and then she works on the wounds more. I'm given something for the pain. I didn't really notice it until she mentioned how much I will be hurting.

The following morning, I wake up and find Peeta sitting up in bed, fully dressed, but asleep. I lift carefully up to a sitting position. My hands hurt like hell.

"Peeta?"

He opens his eyes hazily and then he sees me and sits up. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"A little pain, but I'm fine," I reply.

"I'm sorry…"he begins. The look on his face becomes solemn. "I wasn't there to see him. I should've protected you."

"You don't have to be sorry for anything. I was the one who decided to spend a long time alone in there." I look back to the doorway of the bathroom, broken shards everywhere. "I just don't understand where this guy came from."

"We don't know. Nobody could find this guy after," Peeta says tensly.

I was almost killed. Somebody wants me dead. Whoever this guy is or whoever he may be working for: they want me gone. Why? The reasons are endless. I've been in the Hunger Games, I killed people, and I was the Mockingjay in the Rebellion. But I thought I was relatively safe now. I thought I didn't have to worry about the lives of people I care about or my life being in jeopardy. I guess I was wrong.

I pull out my hands from under the blanket. My arms don't look like they're bleeding that much. "This is not how I pictured my wedding night to be like," I say in bad attempt for a joke. Peeta puts an arm around me. The door opens, and in comes Haymitch.

"How are you feeling Sweetheart?"

"I'm alright," I say.

"It looks like somebody doesn't like you," he says.

"Right, and who is this? I don't understand that after three years somebody comes out nowhere and decides that I should be put out."

"It's a mystery alright, but this has happened before."

"What do you mean?" asks Peeta.

"I got call from Plutarch. He says that earlier last night, there was an attempted murder on Beetee."

"Beetee? Is he alright?"

"He got hit in the side. He was sent to the hospital, but he'll live."

"Is it coincidence that he and Katniss are both Hunger Game victors?" says Peeta. I look to Peeta and then Haymitch for confirmation. "It has to be a group behind this, or else they wouldn't have done it the same night."

"Do you think they're going after all the victors?" I ask. It's possible that the gunman was trying to take Peeta and me out. How easy for them to have two victors living under the same roof, but he didn't really take advantage of that when he decided to go for us one at a time.

"We don't know for sure, but that's what Paylor assumes," Haymitch says steadily. "And so she called today, saying that all the victors are going to be transported to an unnamed location for some sort of meeting and protection."

"Where?" I ask.

"I can't tell you that until we're out of District 12," he says.

"Of course," I say tiredly.

"When do they plan on taking us?" asks Peeta.

"Tonight," Haymitch replies.

"So soon?"

"Hey, well if there's a hit man after victors, we would have to get the victims out of here before the guy decides to give a second try."

I feel slightly agitated with the whole situation. We have to leave 12, because are lives are being threatened for the hundredth time. I should really be used to this by now.

"Where's my mother?" I ask.

"She's downstairs resting," answers Peeta. "She didn't want to leave while you were still injured."

"I have to go talk to her," I say.

"You won't be moving out of that bed anytime soon," says Haymitch. "How about we just go get her?"

"I'll go. Haymitch, I'll lead you out." Peeta gets up and they both walk out the door. My mouth is dry and I notice the glass of water on top of the bedside table. I carefully move both of my bandaged hands around and hold it to my lips. I shakily drink it, and my hands begin to hurt.

"Katniss, how are you feeling?" My mother sits on the side of the bed and takes the glass.

"Well enough," I reply. "Did you hear the gun shots last night?"

"I did," she says steadily. "I was so frightened. I dressed and ran over here as fast as I could…" Her expression becomes pained. "I feared the worst when I saw you, but it's a good thing Peeta managed to stop some of bleeding or you would have need extreme medical attention. And there's no hospital around here."

"Just the medicine factory and my mother…" I say. She moves a strand of hair behind my ear, and then examines my hands and arms. "There's something else I need to tell you," I say.

She turns her head up at me. "What is it?"

"I don't know if they told you, but Paylor called Haymitch and it turns out the same thing happened to Beetee yesterday. Somebody tried to kill him, but he survived. She told him that the victors will be transported somewhere for a meeting. That we'll be safe there."

"Where?"

"I don't know. They won't tell us yet, but we're leaving on a hovercraft tonight-"

"Tonight?" She looks dismally at me and frowns. "Three years without seeing you and now you'll be leaving again." She tends to my hands again. "It is for your protection, and I want you to be safe…" She continues to occupy herself with the bandages, but then her eyes begin to tear. "I just don't want to lose you."

"I'll be fine," I say in consolation. "I'll try to contact you when I can."

"I do hope so," she says.

"I will," I reply. I can't help have the feeling that I have just told a lie. I can't know for sure that I will be alright.

I spend the whole time between morning and noon in bed. I'm finally allowed up to help Peeta pack some stuff, although we do not know how long we'll be staying there. In the evening, my mother's train departs back to District 4. Peeta, Greasy Sae, and I walk with her to the station. I feel sad to see her go so soon, when I just barely put away by bad feelings against her. I still have some, but I tried really hard to forget about them these past few days.

We walk to the station and wait for my mother's train. I hold onto Peeta's hand, feeling bad about how drastically everything turned from happy to fearful and anxious. Dread seeps in when the train arrives, because she'll have to go. My mother picks up her bag and turns to us for a good-bye. She speaks to Greasy Sae, who she has known since I was little. Sae encourages her not to worry and she gives her a bouquet of herbs of plants found here in District 12.

My mother turns to Peeta and me.

"I've always thought of you as a wonderful young man, and I'll know you'll take care of Katniss," she says and her mouth turns into a lopsided smile. "Take care, Peeta."

He smiles slightly and he nods. My mother looks to me. "I hope we'll keep in touch. These past years have been empty without both of my daughters." I know she means Prim and that she must have felt that same emptiness I have knowing Prim is gone. I see her every time I look at the primroses in the front yard.

She hugs me for a short moment, and then gets her bag and looks to Peeta and me a final time. "I love you both and I'll hope you'll be careful, whatever you're doing."

"Of course. Have a safe trip back," says Peeta. My mother enters the train and then a minute later we watch it leave the station.

"We better get going then," says Peeta.

"Don't want to miss your flight," says Greasy Sae. "I wish you both well, and hope to see you two soon, alright?"

"Of course. We can't go very long without missing your cooking," I say.

She smiles at both of us. "Take care now."

Peeta and I say good-bye, and then we walk to the meadow outside of the fence. It's getting dark, and I notice not a lot of people are out as we walk through town. They turn away, and show no curiosity of my bandaged hands. They probably already heard and decided to keep inside.

Walking through the woods, I find myself habitually trying to stay quiet unlike Peeta who makes his way to step on every noisy stick. But I shouldn't be worrying about it. It doesn't matter anymore. I could be leaving this place for good, who knows?

"Well there it is," Peeta says from behind me. I look ahead to the clearing and notice the large hovercraft with its humming noise, probably driving away all animals in radius. Haymitch stands at the entrance ladder with a man in a soldier uniform. There are no more Peacekeepers, but we still have our own military force _just in case_. They're also the new law enforcement, but they're much less strict than Peacekeepers.

"Glad you made it," Haymitch says. "This is Soldier Cayes. He'll be our peppy escort," he mumbles so he doesn't hear.

"This way," says Cayes in monotone.

Peeta and I step up the ladder before Haymitch. Cayes goes last and retracts the ladder for take off.

"Doesn't this bring back memories?" Haymitch mumbles..

"Sure does…" I say in monotone. I look to Peeta hoping none of this causing any potential flashbacks. "How are you doing?" I asked in a softer voice.

"I'm fine, don't worry," he answers. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. I'm alright," I say steadily. He takes my hand and the three of us sit in seats farthest away from the soldiers and the cockpit. I look out a window, the hovercrafts hums louder, and we begin to lift into the air. I watch outside to the forest until we're too high to only see a mass of green.

Peeta's hand is tense on mine, but when I look up, he shakes his head to dismiss it. Cayes sits next to another soldier in seats close to the pit. I look to Haymitch and speak softer than I usually would. "Where are we going, Haymitch?"

"I think you can figure it out. You're smart."

The first thought that comes to mind is somewhere backed up with so many bad memories I get a headache just thinking about it. I'm hoping pretty much anyplace but there. There more I think about the more certain I am about it, but I have to ask. "District 13?"

"I knew you were smart."

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**I hope this didn't seemed rushed. Things make more sense in the next chapter, which I will be uploading soon!**

**-cheezebuns**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games and this story is written only for the entertainment of the writer and readers.**

**Important: The line break signifies a change in POV. Happy reading!**

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Chapter 2

We're returning to Thirteen.

District 13 has become the country's secondary military base, the main base being the one in District 2, stilled called the Nut. It has grown alot since we left it. Most of their residents are soldiers and the people who work in the research and production of the district's nuclear weaponry. Being underground has its advantages, as demonstrated when the Capitol unleashed a raid of bombers on the district three years ago. The disadvantages make it Panem's secondary base. Their underground farms can't feed as much, and you can only dig so far down. Even so, that's where we will be hiding.

The old ruins come into view as we descend into the runway of the district. Cayes reports to us that we are entering the elevator which will take the hovercraft to the underground hangar. Like it wasn't obvious when the windows became dark.

We come to a stop and Cayes slides down the ladder before us. When we get down he tells us he'll be guiding us to our compartments .So we follow him, and when we walk through the hallways I get a flood of memories into my head at once. Most of them ones I rather forget. Peeta and Haymitch seem to be experiencing the same thing.

We reach an entrance of section D and Cayes stops to hand us each our keys.

"The third key isn't necessary," says Peeta."We're married so we will be sharing a compartment." he gestures to me as he tells him.

"Alright then," he says plainly. He swipes the key from my hand and goes straight into the hallway without bothering to see if we're following. I'd like to know what this guy's problem is. Peeta seems to read my mind and he just shakes his head. "Let it go."

Cayes stops at our door and hands Peeta the key. He tells us he'll come back in twenty-five minutes to escort us to Command for a meeting. We close the door after him. I make an examination of the room and see it looks just like the one I stayed in with my family: bed, dresser, bathroom. No window, but we don't have Buttercup.

"I guess this is home for a while," Peeta says.

My head slags. "I rather spend my first few days married with you in District 12."

He wraps his arms around me from behind. "I would too, but anywhere I could call him home as long I'm with you." He smiles at me and I kiss him in return. I swear his words are going to be the end of me.

"We don't have to call it home," he says. "We could think of it as the honeymoon."

I smiling at how ridiculous it sounds when we're here because somebody is out to kill us. "Not exactly how I pictured our honeymoon to be like."

He only shrugs, keeping his smile. We both start to unpack and in twenty minutes, Cayes is knocking on our door.

We stop for Haymitch and we're taken to Command .Cayes slides his ID to unlock the doors. Inside is a large table with digital images of maps and photos. Surrounding it are multiple chairs and there's a screen in the back of room with the seal of Panem. The images disappear as we enter the room. President Paylor stands with two uniformed adults, who I'm guessing are generals. I was almost expecting to see Boggs, but then I remember he's dead.

"The victors from Twelve are the first to arrive," Paylor announces to the other two. The three of them step towards us. "Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Haymitch Abernathy. I will introduce to you General Conrade. He is involved with the investigation." Conrade is an older man. Tall, wide, and sort of resembles Boggs with his square chin and short haircut. Although this guy has a dark complexion and beard.

"And this is Lieutenant General Verges," Paylor says. "She is the one leading this investigation." Verges is a woman about 50. She has a paler complexion, keeps her hair in a tight bun, and her lips stay in a straight line throughout the greeting. She has laugh lines, but I don't think she does too much laughing.

"We will be commencing shortly. Just as soon as the other victors arrive," Verges speaks for the first time. The three of them walk to the screen again and start talking amongst themselves.

"You think Plutarch is in on this?" Peeta asks Haymitch.

"Could be. The man is secretary of communications," he replies.

The last thing something like this need is propaganda. Although I think the news won't stay too quiet for long. My thoughts of back then are cut short. The doors slide open and in come Annie, Enobaria, and Johanna with a pair of soldiers.

"It's a party now," Haymitch mumbles.

"Happy to see me? Nice of these circumstances to bring us all together again," Johanna says sardonically. "Well, look at you, Everdeen. You gain an inch. And Mellark buffed up some, didn't you?"

"Ha, I guess," Peeta replies.

"You haven't changed much Haymitch," she says plainly.

Annie seems to take a second to recognize us, and when she does, a smile appears on her face. "Katniss, Peeta, how have you been?"

"Okay..." I say not wanting recent events to disrupt her cheery greeting. "How are you Annie?"

Her smiles droops a bit. "Having to leave so suddenly made Finn upset, and the ride here was... but he's in a good mood now. He bounces back and helps me. He's such a good boy." A small smile keeps on her face while she talks. Something that I've noticed happens when mothers talk about their children. I'm glad Annie is doing well on her own. I'm glad she didn't become depressed, and I know she faced problems from the phone calls we would get sometimes.

"We will now commence the meeting. Please take your seats," says Verges. "As you know, Beetee is still injured and so he can't leave the hospital. He is being informed by Plutarch Heavensbee of the news we're giving out today."

"We'll be sharing with you the information we already know and the ties that these recent assassination attempts have to do with a group that we have been keeping our eye on," states Conrade. An image of a streetin District 3 appears on the table screen. "Because of the multiple factories in District 3, we were able to catch the gunman on surveillance. Looking at his attire, we found that he or she belongs to a sort of organization that we think may pose a threat. There is the group's symbol."

The camera zooms in on the the figure and there on the right shoulder is an emblem that closely resembles the Capitol's old emblem. It's slightly different. The bird on it is just different.

"So this group..." Johanna starts. "Who the hell are they?"

"I will explain that," Verges states. She's clearly already taking a dislike to Johanna attitude. "This underground group was probably started after the Rebellion. The people in it believe that the district should all have a distributed wealth, a stronger law enforcement to prevent unnecessary uprisings, and that a president should have more power. These started out with few members and they caused no trouble. We just kept our eye on them, because there wasn't really any acts against the law. They've gained more followers since then, and they are gaining powerful supporters. This is what is making them act up now, especially since a powerful position will be open."

"Nothing was done earlier? You just let them organize their meetings? Wouldn't you worry about them overthrowing the president?" Enobaria questions.

"Well, at first they were just an underground group, doing no harm. They are a sort of _political party_, and so they have their demonstrations and their representatives. They want more people to see as they see and support their ideas. These ideas are dangerously close to becoming ideas of bringing back a dictatorship."

"Do they want to start another uprising?" Peeta asks.

"Not exactly. As you know, we have elections for our president as it is part of our new democracy. Paylor's term will come to an end, and then people will vote for someone new." She stops to take a breath. It's going to be long.

"So this group was established, and they find someone to represent them. Someone who could run for president. That is their goal. To get someone with their ideas to rule Panem. And it just so happens that their representative is Rosalind Snow, Cornelius' grand-daughter." A picture appears. A woman who looks about 25. I see some resemblance between her and her evil grand-farther we had to put up with. It's her eyes, I think. She has a pale complexion but striking red hair that matches her lips. I see she tried to relate her appearance with her name, although her look makes me think of blood. Since I've met Snow, roses and blood seem to go hand in hand.

"I told you we should've killed her," says Johanna. Haymitch shushes her, which returns him a glare.

"How old is she?" I ask.

"She was 18, during the Rebellion so she is 21 now. Rosalind isn't a leader of the organization, but she fully believes in their ideas. There are people behind her influencing her image as their symbol. She's still dangerous."

"So how does this group tie with us?" asks Enobaria.

Conrade steps forward, giving Verges a break. "A possible reason is that they think Hunger Game victors will be the strongest opposed to them. That you will be the ones to get in their way and influence people."

"Well isn't that the truth," Johanna says.

"Another possibility, it being more maniac, is that killing someone influential makes news. It gets people's attention. Maybe their attempts were just schemes for people to think they have power. People would be driven to join them out of fear."

"Wonderful," Haymitch mutters.

"But you won't have to worry about that. You stay within the district, you'll be fine," states Paylor. "While you stay here you all will be trained as soldiers, since this is a base. You'll be given your schedules and report to each period, including training. As soldiers you might be asked to do jobs, but none that will seriously risk your safety. We'll give some exception to Mrs. Odair, because she has her son."

"I think that is all," says Conrade.

"I don't think so. There is still more information that I think they should hear," says Paylor.

Verges looks to Paylor, confused or surprised. "The information we have on that is limited, and we still have our people looking into it.," says Verges in a low tone.

"Please General, they have a right to know ," Paylor says rather sharply.

Verges gets this look of disapproval, but Paylor steadies her gaze on her to give in.

She gives in.

"We have found out recently that this group sponsors their own lab. They somehow gotten the research of the Capitol's old labs and are working underground. They have all the blueprints of the Hunger Games and the things in between."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"We haven't found that out. They could be making weapons for a war, or creating an arena somewhere. We don't know. We have spies currently working on finding out."

The sound of it tells me these people are a serious threat. Did we lose lives, homes, and our minds for nothing? Was the whole Rebellion a waste of time? Finnick, Prim, Boggs… Somewhere during my thinking, Peeta grabs one of my hands trying to get me out of my thoughts. I guess the meeting is over.

The generals stay in Command, but Paylor and everyone else exits. Soldiers walk in front, while Annie and Johanna follow behind to their compartments. Enobaria walks behind them and there's Haymitch.

"Are you really recruiting Haymitch as a soldier?" Peeta asks Paylor.

"He can handle it. We won't have him just sitting around doing nothing. I'll be counting on you two to get him to training." she says it seriously, but with a small smirk. I'm waiting to hear she's kidding, but the words don't come.

"President Paylor," Peeta addresses. "If the group wants the presidency, wouldn't they try to eliminate the competing candidates?"

Paylor already understands what he's getting at. "Don't worry about me. I have soldiers at my side around the clock, and there is the fact that I was a Commander. I can take care of myself. You worry about yourselves. Goodnight, Soldier Mellark, Soldier Everdeen."

Paylor walks the opposite way with soldiers following.

"Everyone has been addressing me by maiden name," I say.

"They just don't know we're married, but I don't think it would be important to them," says Peeta. "As long as we know we're married, then we're good."

Peeta and I go back to the compartment. When we get there I tiredly get ready for bed. This day has exhausted me, but I don't know if I'll be sleeping much with all this new information I just learned.

Peeta is sitting in bed, lets out a yawn, and then makes room for me. I get into my spot, laying my head on the crook of his shoulder and chest. "I don't think I want to fall asleep," I say.

"Because of the nightmares?" he asks in a soft tone. "Don't worry, I'll be here. Try to fall asleep."

I close my eyes and try to keep my mind blank. Eventually sleep comes. I hear Peeta's soft _I love you_ before I drift off.

* * *

_I wake up gradually._

_My mind is in a fog._

_The only thing I feel is my breathing._

_It's completely dark. I can't tell if my eyes are open or not._

_Sounds. I hear a small distant uniformed sound. It sounds like beeping._

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

_It becomes clearer. _

_I slowly gain the feeling in face and in my fingers. I move them around, but I feel nothing._

_Or maybe it's not nothing. The sensation feels like I'm surrounded in warm water. I gain more feeling in my limbs, but I only move them a little._

_Where am I?_

"…_subject 1204 has gained consciousness..."_

_Now there are voices, and I'm surprised I hear them so clearly._

"…_heartbeat is normal. Brain activity has increased..." _

_There's another voice. _

"_We should report this. They'll want see..."_

_I strain my ears to listen for more things. I need a clue to where I am, but it goes silent and I don't hear a thing for a long time. I think I fall asleep._

…

_I hear clicking. It sounds familiar. Maybe they're footsteps._

"_... gained consciousness and should be ready in a week's time." _

"_I don't understand why we revived this one. Why is she so important?" That was a female voice._

"_She's related to one of the remaining victors, and she'll be of great use to us against her." Another voice._

_They're talking about me? Against who?_

"_She's lovely isn't she? It's too bad she died and had to be revived like this..."_

_Died? I… was dead?_

"_... what was her name?"_

"_I think it was Primrose. Primrose Everdeen."_

"_What a lovely name."_

* * *

**Sorry for the wait. I lost the files and had to rewrite it, while juggling events that keep me busy. I hope this chap came out okay in the end. I'll be working on the next one! Commets would be lovely.**

**-cheezebuns**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading and the reviews you guys left. Excuse any errors and happy reading.**

* * *

Chapter 3

A scream pierces my throat.

I sit up in bed, my eyes open, and my heart palpitates like crazy in my chest. I look around the room, and at first I have a hard time realizing where I am. The room is alien to me, and it seems to only add to my panic. Peeta's arms come around me and he starts to shush softly.

"Katniss, it's alright. You're awake now."

"District 13? We're in Thirteen?" My voice raspy.

"Yes, we got here in the evening of yesterday, remember?"

In my head I go through what yesterday was like and I realize that I'm truly here, and that I'm not dreaming. Peeta rubs my back in effort to calm me down. My breathing goes back to normal. I look at the clock and see it's four in the morning.

"Want to try to go back to sleep?" he asks.

I hesitate and then nod my head. We lay back down in our original position. I let my mind faintly concentrate on the sound of our breathing, and I fall asleep again for little more.

Our alarm rings, and we both hazily get up. We dress in our assigned plain clothing, get our schedules tattooed, and then head to the Dining Hall. It looks exactly the same, but what takes my notice is that there aren't too many families. There are very few and most of these people are soldiers, all wearing what we're wearing.

Peeta points out Haymitch at a far table. We grab our trays and then walk over just in time to see Haymitch take a drink from a flask in his pocket.

"It's a bit early, isn't it?" Peeta says.

"Ah, I see I've been caught red handed," he says in his dry morning voice. "I just need a bit of a pick me up, that's all."

"I'm guessing alcohol is still outlawed here?" I say.

"Sure is. They still have their rations and their rules against excess consumption. I guess they don't want their soldiers getting used to it when there isn't a war going on," says Haymitch.

"Which includes you. Paylor recruited you, remember?" I say.

He puts his hand into his pocket. "Right…"

He takes another swing of this drink, luckily before anybody notices. I guess it explains his far seating. I see Peeta repressing a smile. He hides it by putting the spoon to his mouth, but clearly he's forgotten that Paylor put him in our responsibility.

"We're going to training after this. I hope you're up for it."

He raises an eyebrow. "Sounds fun," he says sarcastically.

"You do have to go, Haymtich," says Peeta. "Paylor told us to escort you there personally."

"Did she now? It just gets better and better." He puts his flask back in his pocket and eats his breakfast. We all finish ours and then we drag Haymitch to training with us. Not literally. He knows he can't win.

We enter the District's Training Center and file in line with the other soldiers. Johanna stands in between me and Haymitch.

She spots Haymitch and she smirks mischievously. He ignores her. The trainer, a middle-aged woman named Cass, calls us to run laps in the fenced in area on ground level. "I can't wait to see this," Johanna mutters to me.

We walk a mile for warm-up and then start our 5 mile jog. I don't find it too difficult, as I always seem to be going large distances in the forest, but Haymitch… isn't as used to it. Peeta and I are running sort of in front, when he decides he's going hang back with Haymitch and get him to keep running. When I look back I notice Peeta's encouragement only gives Haymitch an annoyed expression. I'm sure Peeta sees that, but he does it anyway.

After our laps we get a drink of water. Then we're off to a class on weaponry. I find it hard to concentrate, and so sometimes my mind will be drifting off. I don't know if it's the class itself or if my mind just hasn't completely healed yet.

After watching our teacher assemble a rifle over and over again, we go to the range. Cass hands me ear muffs and a pistol.

"You know how to use it?" she asks.

"I have some experience," I say.

"Let's see you shoot that target then." She stands aside, while I hold the gun and aim at the target. Having her on my back is unnerving. I stand in a stance to prepare for the recoil and put my finger on the trigger. I pull it. It manages to hit the very edge of it.

"Work on that shot, Soldier," she says as she leaves.

I admit it's not good. It's not like using a bow or throwing a knife. I take a stance again and aim and shoot over and over again. I'm so concentrated on the gun that I don't realize Enobaria has walked up to my slot.

"You're not going to hit straight if you shoot like that," she says. Her sharp teeth glint in the artificial light.

"Some of them went straight, didn't they?" I say indifferently.

I swear I see the flash of smirk, which looks sort of evil with those teeth. "Maybe you should stick with the bow and arrow," she says as she leaves.

Close to my exact my thoughts. Even so, I continue to train with the gun since I know I won't always have a bow at my disposal. I continue to shoot the same way. Some them making the target. After a few rounds, the trainer calls us to finish.

Cass calls us to partner up and head to the punching bags. Peeta and I pick one out and he holds while I throw jabs and uppercuts at it. We switch, Peeta is punching and I'm holding the bag. Peeta manages a few hits until Cass tells him to stop.

"Soldier Everdeen and Soldier Hayes, switch partners," she orders.

"Why? We were doing perfectly fine," I say.

"I think it's only fitting that a male soldier partner up with another male soldier so that the holder doesn't influence how hard he punches," she says. "You need to spread out a little more."

I want to argue how unnecessary it is, but there is no point in making this a big deal. Cass is holding her ground, waiting for what I'll do next.

"Who's my partner then?"

"That way. With Soldier Vells" she says directing me to a punching bag.

I walk up to the bag, which Vells is already standing behind and holding. "You'll go first and I'll hold it," she says.

"Alright," I say. I start off punching it while, Cass calling out different moves we have to do. I put up a sweat, and my knuckles feel weak from hitting them so hard. Just in time, Cass calls for a switch.

"My turn," Vells says. We actually switch spots on the punching bag, and when we do, I catch my first glimpse of her, and I realize that I know her.

I hold the bag in place, but I take another look at her, making sure I'm seeing right. She has red hair, and almond shaped eyes. Her face shape reminds me too much of the person I think she is. It must be her, but it's impossible that it is.

Because she died in the 74th Hunger Games.

Memories of my first Hunger Games run inside my head. Being in the tree, getting my head cut by Clove, taking out those berries... I remember Peeta finding them, and then she managed to take a few. And those few killed her.

"Hey, you're letting it swing," Vells says.

I come out of my thoughts and realize I'm barely holding it. "Sorry," I murmur and I hold it straight. She hits it a few more times, and then we're told to switch positions again.

"You remind me of someone I knew," I say as casually as I can. "What's your' first name?"

She looks hesitant, but she answers. "Lyna"

Lyna? No, that's not it. I know I called her Foxface, but her first name should have rung a bell. I know that wasn't her name, so is this someone completely different? Maybe she has nothing to do with Foxface, except that she looks exactly like her, but older.

"Oh, uh no. Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Do you have a sibling?"

"No," she says. "Only child."

"Never mind then," I say. I continue to punch. I feel her looking at me, but I pretend not to notice. When it comes to her turn again, we're back how we were and act indifferent towards each other.

Training ends, and I find Peeta to walk with back to the Dining Hall. We get out trays and sit next to each other at an empty table. I see Vells or Foxface sitting at a table in front of me facing away. This gets me back to thinking that it still could be her.

"What's up? You're not eating," says Peeta.

My eyes turn away from Foxface. "It's just that I saw someone, and they looked like someone we knew."

"Who?" he asks.

"See that girl two tables away from us? The one with the red hair."

Peeta turns just slightly in his chair and looks back. "She's facing away," he says.

"Wait for it, she'll turn."

And she does. She exchanges a word with a soldier beside her, and then goes back to her tray. She doesn't talk much, which I would think is another trait she has with Foxface.

"It's Foxface," I say in a low tone.

"Foxface? You mean the girl in our first Hunger Games?" Peeta matches my tone of voice.

"Yes, I know it sounds absolutely crazy, but she looks just like her," I say.

"Maybe she's a relative of hers," he says. "A sister maybe."

"I… asked her. She said she was an only child."

Peeta raises an eyebrow. Is it because he finds it odd, or is it because I questioned her in the first place? "There are other explanations that could explain it," he says. "Maybe she said she was an only child, because she doesn't like to talk about her dead sister."

"Maybe," I say.

Haymitch and Johanna join us at the table. I decide not to mention Foxface again, Peeta's explanation making me tell myself to stop talking crazy. Strangers fill in the empty seats, one them Enobaria, who exchanges a word or two with Johanna. When did they become friends?

…

"Katniss?"

My thoughts are getting to me again. "What was that?"

"I said, I think we should go see Beetee, to see how he's doing," says Peeta.

"Uh yeah, sounds like a good idea," I say.

"We'll go during as soon as we're ready." Peeta takes off his old shirt, looks through a drawer and puts on a clean one. I realize I'm still not showered or dressed. I get up from our bed, grab a towel, and go into the bathroom. I come out a few minutes later and we go to the hospital.

"You alright?" Peeta asks.

"I'm fine," I say. I add a forced smile, and he dismisses it. We go to the front desk and ask for Beetee's room. An older nurse points us down a hallway and tells us the room number to look for. When we get there, Peeta taps of the door and we enter.

"How are doing Beetee?" asks Peeta.

Beetee is sitting in bed, writing in a notebook. He sees Peeta and I and you can tell he's surprised. "Well, I didn't know you were coming to visit today," say Beetee with good humor.

"We're not disturbing you, are we? We come back some other time," Peeta says.

"Oh no," he exclaims. "I was just working on the blue prints for an invention, and you know since you guys are here, I'll show it to you."

We walk closer to his bed to get a look at his page. It looks like a sort of pod. "What is it exactly?" I ask.

"I'm glad you asked," he says. "Well, it's a sort of grenade if you look at it, but this is not explosive."

"They've already got you making weapons for them?" asks Peeta.

"When you say "them" I assume you mean the generals here? No, they did not tell to make this, because as you see this is not really a weapon. This, an original invention, is a handheld pod that unleashes a flash bright white light from burning magnesium inside of it. With the light, it also releases a large amount of halothane which travels out to at least a 300 feet radius."

We wait for him to explain more.

"A bright light disorients a crowd and a harmless gas put them all out. People in a large radius will simply go unconscious. I would think it the most peaceful weapon they would have here."

"So… let's say a fight broke out in the Dining Hall, and you unleashed one of those. Would everyone just go unconscious?"

"Yes, and not just those in the Dining Hall. The gas travels extremely fast, so the whole floor would go unconscious. The gas travels through the tiniest cracks. I would call it the perfect tool for the middle of a battle. Absolutely no bloodshed."

"It still sounds dangerous," I say.

"Of course, there really is no such thing as a peaceful weapon," says Beetee.

After a long minute of silence, Peeta speaks up. "So how are feeling Beetee?"

"I'm well enough," he says. "That shooter wasn't experienced, you could tell. He barely grazed my chest." He smiles lightly.

"We're glad you're alright," I say.

"Oh yes, I'll probably be out of here the day after tomorrow. They already want me helping out with the investigation. And how are you Katniss? I heard you didn't get hit with a bullet, but you were injured?"

"Just some cut hands, that's all," I say. "I managed to dodge his aim, but the shooter escaped after shooting our bathroom mirror. It left glass everywhere, but I wasn't seriously injured. Peeta and my mother took care of me."

"Yes…" he says. "How are you doing… mentally?"

The question throws me off a little. "I…" I mutter. "Are you asking me how I'm taking it?"

"Please don't be offended by it. I'm just concerned. I care for the both of you."

"Well… I'm alright," I say back, trying not to sound offended. Beetee looks at me as if he's not convinced. "I'm a little upset of having my peace taken away again, but I'm fine. I'm used to it."

Beetee looks at Peeta, and he says the same thing. He says there's really nothing to worry about if we stay here in the district. After changing the subject, and conversing about plain topics, Peeta says that we should go. We say good-bye to Beetee and go back to our compartment.

"Something is bothering you." Peeta doesn't even ask. He already knows.

I go to a drawer for my clothes. "It's just thoughts, but really, I'm fine."

"Nobody is saying you're not," says Peeta. He changes into his sleeping pants. "They're just asking."

"Really? It seems as though people are questioning my sanity. Do I look troubled?"

"No, not really. It's just that I noticed you've been spacing out more than usual today. Like when we saw "Foxface". You know when you told me, I didn't think it was absolutely impossible, but I just considered reasonable explanations."

"Thank you for not calling me crazy," I say.

Peeta pulls a shirt over his head, walks up, and pulls me into his arms. "You're not crazy," he says. "And don't think you can't let things bother you. You don't have to pretend, especially with me."

"Okay, but nothing is bothering me," I say. I feel tired of all this convincing and repeating myself.

"If you're sure…"

In my mind, I've had enough of this. I turn around in his arms and press my lips against his. I feel both us lose tension. A few seconds later we break apart.

"It's fine. I'm alright," I say in a softer voice.

"I just want you to know you can talk me," he says.

"I know," I say. "You're the only one I do talk to. Who I absolutely trust."

I find myself looking straight in his eyes, amplifying I mean it. "You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that," he says. He smiles, and then he cups my face and kisses me. This kiss lasts, and I feel the space between us vanish. His hand goes to the small of my back. My arms go around his neck. I know full well where this is going.

I can't really recall what happened before our conversation. My mind lost to whatever my thoughts were before. We're under sheets and all I feel is his lips on mine, and a familiar warmth that I've never let grow until now. Peeta breaks away.

"I love you," he says softly. "I have to ask… are you ready for this?"

I realize he asked me same thing before we got married. I smile at his sincerity, how genuine he is. "Absolutely ready," I whisper back. In reply, his lips crash onto mine and it's as if a spark has just caught fire.

* * *

[Primrose]

"_She's waking up_."

I open my eyes very gradually. The light is bright, but soon enough my eyes adjust. I see men in white lab coats hovering over the table I'm lying on.

"Good morning, Primrose."

Primrose. That's what they call me, so that must be my name. One of them pulls a band thing around my arm and it squeezes it tightly. I gasp out in pain.

"If you don't move, it will loosen up," a man says. So I don't move, blindly trusting this stranger. The band does loosen and then he takes it off. "Blood pressure… Let's check brainwaves."

Smalls wires are attached to my head, and the doctors leave the room. I lay plainly on the table, because I have no urge to go. No drive to move.

A single doctor comes back. He sits in a chair, and then the table I'm lying on suddenly adjusts so that I'm sitting up. "Look at this picture," he says. He pulls a photo up from his lap. It's a picture of street, more like a town square. The buildings in the square are painted, but have a grayish tint from black dust on the road.

"Do you recognize this place?"

I look at the picture intently, waiting for some recognition. Nothing comes. "I… don't recognize it."

The doctor keeps his emotionless expression and switches the photo to one of an older man. He has white hair and a stretched looking lips. His eyes are what catch my attention, though. They're thin and snake-like.

"Do recognize this man?"

"Uh… no," I reply.

The doctor picks a photo and then holds it up to show me it. It's a photograph of a girl. Not my age but slightly older. She has black hair and grey eyes. What catches my attention is a bow and arrow in her hand. She looks like she's concentrating.

"Do you recognize this girl?"

My eyes stare into the photo, and images flash in my head. They're images of this girl, and they're accompanied by feelings of love, and then worry, and then sadness. They're only images, and they don't piece together. "I… don't know who she is, but she seems familiar," I say.

The doctor mumbles something to himself, and then he gets up. He walks out of the door, and I see him through a widow talking to another man in a white coat and a woman with red hair. She turns, and her eyes meet mine.

They kind of look like eyes of the old man in the photo.

The woman and the two men in lab coats come back into the room. The woman walks over to the chair in front of me and sits down, keeping a smile on her face.

"Hello, my name is Rosalind Snow," she says casually.

I don't know what to make of this "Rosalind". Nothing has been piecing together and so nothing makes sense. I blindly follow these peoples' instruction not knowing anything about them... or me.

"Nice to meet you Rosalind, but can you tell me who I am?"

She keeps her polite smile, and then she grabs one of my arms and holds it out so that the underside is up. Tatooed on my arm is a six digit number. "You're number 001216, also known as Primrose Everdeen. You're about 17 years old, and you have blonde hair and blue eyes," she says.

She gets up from her seat. "I'll tell you more after training. You've got alot of catching up to do, since the other Revivals have already started."

_Revivals?_

"Good luck, Primrose." She leaves the room, leaving me still confused as who I am and what I'm doing here. My name is Primrose, and I feel that's the only thing I know is for sure.

* * *

**Odd turn of events in this chapter. Oh and just in case some readers are still confused, this is not a sequel to Breaking Hope (another story of mine). Sorry for the confusion.**

**Reviews would be lovely. I'm very interested in what you're thoughts are about the story, and they seem to help me when I write. **

**-cheezebuns.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Change of summary, but still the same plot.**

**_Crack the shutters_- Snow Patrol. Happy reading.**

* * *

Chapter 4

I wake up with the sound of our alarm and sway my arm around till I find the button to turn it off. I realize that I slept the whole night. No nightmares. At least from what I remember.

Peeta is fully awake. He shift slightly and feel his kiss on my shoulder. I turn around to face him. "Did I scream or wake up at all last night?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Huh," I say.

"Huh," he says. We stay looking each other until he starts to grin.

"What?" I ask.

"You're look... beautiful right now. Not that you don't always do, but you look… happy, carefree."

"Huh," I say. I guess that's what a whole night of sleep feels like.

"I wish I had my notebook," he says.

"To draw what?"

"You. At this very moment."

Usually when he says things like this I feel a blush forming, so I turn on my back, so he doesn't notice. I should be used to it by now, but he gets me every time.

"We should be getting up now," I say "We don't want to be late for training."

He gives out a short sigh. "You're right. Too bad this just can't last forever."

I turn my head to give him a peck on the lips and then I sit up with the blanket up to my chest. I stretch my arm as far as it can go to reach the floor to grab my clothes. I hear Peeta laughing at me, and I ignore him.

Once we're dressed, we get our schedules and then go to the Dining Hall. I'm barely finishing braiding my hair when we get there. With the little time we have left, me and Peeta eat breakfast and then hurry along to the Training Center. We see they've already started, and so we try to go in unnoticed, walking behind the other soldiers. Unfortunately, Cass catches us and foils our plan.

"Soldier Everdeen and Soldier Mellark," she addresses loudly. Peeta and I freeze, standing behind a target.

"We've been caught," Peeta whispers jokingly. We walk out from behind the target and stand in clear view.

"What are your excuses for being late?" she demands.

"The alarm was malfunctioning, It didn't get me up in time," says Peeta.

"And yours?" she asks me.

"Same thing," I answer.

She raises an eyebrow. "For being late, an extra lap for both of you. I trust that you will not let this happen again."

"Of course," says Peeta.

"Everybody, laps," she calls out.

The whole group of soldiers starts to run, while Peeta and I follow up. We're a distance from Cass.

"Did we lie?" I ask Peeta.

"I wouldn't call it a lie. The alarm rang, but it failed to get me up," Peeta says.

I punch him in the shoulder, and then we begin to jog faster to catch up with everybody else.

After the run, there's a demonstration on self-defense. I stand between Johanna and Peeta, and keep my attention on the instructor most of the time. But something feels odd, and in the corner of my eye I see Lyna or "Foxface". I think she's looking at me, so I turn my eyes in her direction and she immediately averts hers away. This girl may not be Foxface, but instincts tell me she's one to watch. It could be nothing, but it's just safer to be alert around her.

Am I being paranoid?

I watch the instructor and feel Lyna's gaze on me. Or maybe it's not me she's looking at. I turn my eyes around to see the people around me. Peeta, Johanna, a few people I don't know, Enobaria. I can't figure out why she's looking over here. Confronting her may only lead to problems, so I decide to keep my attention and stay away.

Towards the end of the day, we're tying knots, which I might consider Peeta and myself pros at. It faintly reminds me of Finnick, which reminds me I should see how Annie is. She and her son, 3 year old Finn, live a couple compartments away from us, and it dawns on me why we haven't seen her since we arrived here in District 13.

"Stupid rope," I hear Enobaria mutter.

"Hand in your knots and then you can leave," Cass calls out.

Enobaria's knot is still undone. I turn my attention to my hands and I see I've completed my knot. I admit doing it so much has caused me to bore of tying knots. Sometimes I still do it, especially when I can't sleep. A memento of Finnick.

"Here, I'll trade you," I say handing her my rope.

"I can do it myself," she says.

"I'm sure you can, but I'm sure you want to leave here just as much as I do." She looks at me strangely. "Trade?" I say.

She finally takes the knot and gives me hers. She gets up, but she hesitates. She finally walks away and turns in the knot. I finish tying this one, and then get up to hand it over to Cass. She accepts it, unaware of the trade.

I grab my tray on the lunch line, and locate the familiars at a table. Peeta saved me a seat beside him and across from Johanna.

"Nice of you to join us, Sweetheart. Are you a perfectionist at knot tying?" Haymitch says.

"You could say that," I answer.

"Hey, so we saw you get interrogated by Cass," says Johanna. "What held you guys up?"

"Malfunctioning alarm," says Peeta.

Johanna seems unconvinced. She's silent for a minute like she's thinking. She eyes me. "Fooling around were we?"

"What?" I say.

"Your story was almost believable, but Everdeen here gave it away."

"What are you talking about?" I say.

"Sorry, you're not good at lying or hiding things. I read it clear off your face," she says.

"It's not Everdeen anymore," says Haymitch.

"What was that 'mitch?" Johanna says.

"She's Mrs. Mellark now," he says. "They tied the knot the day before we got here."

"Is this true, Peeta?" she asks.

"It's true," he replies.

"Well, congratulations to you two," she says. "Well now that you two are married, I'm not sure you can hang around with us single people."

"You and Haymitch?" Peeta says.

Her smile turns to a line. "Ha, ha," she laughs sarcastically.

"Anyway," I say. "I think we should go visit Annie and Finn."

"Yeah, sure," says Peeta. "We've never met Finn in person."

"You haven't?" says Johanna. "He's a cute kid. He looks just like his dad. I came to see Annie in Four, when he was like… two years old? I haven't really seen him lately."

"Annie sent us pictures," I say. "She says he likes drawing, and swimming…"

"I wonder if she'll let him near a trident," Johanna says.

"He's three," says Haymitch. "But I guess he can learn early."

"I've been handling axes since I was small," Johanna states. "And I've won a Hunger Games."

"Maybe you're not the best example," says Haymitch.

"I turn out alright," she says. "Mostly."

She looks around at all us. "I don't argue with that," Peeta says plainly.

"Aren't you a keeper," she says and then she looks at me.

"Sure is," I say, with no clue what it really means.

Johanna leaves first, and then Peeta asks Haymitch if he wants to come with us. He declines, saying that he's tired. So we drop off our trays and go to our compartment to change from our training clothes. While getting ready I spot my wedding ring in one of the drawers. I can't wear it on my finger because of training, but I think of something else. I find a leather string in another drawer and tie into a necklace. I put around my neck so I can put in my shirt whenever I need to.

"Ready?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah," I say. He spots the ring and he smiles. We exit into the hallways and find Annie's compartment. Peeta knocks on the door. A latch unlocks and Annie opens the door.

"Peeta, Katniss, nice of you to come. Johanna let me know before hand,"

"Hi Annie," I say.

And then the small boy comes over and stands next to Annie. He's the mirror image of Finnick, although his hair color looks a little more like Annie's.

"Say hello to Katniss and Peeta. They're friends of ours," Annie tells him.

"Hello," Finn says simply. He looks at us with a curiosity and doesn't say anymore.

Peeta stoops down to his level. "Hi Finn, I hear you like to draw. I really like to draw too, and paint."

"Really?" he asks.

"I used to draw a lot."

"Why don't you show Peeta and Katniss your pictures?" Annie suggests.

"Okay," he says with new found excitement.

Finn leads us to one side of the compartment where a night stand has been moved to be a table. Finn has several papers on it and colors. He shows us each picture and tells us what the subject of each one is. For a three year old, the pictures are pretty good. He shows us one of a boat in the ocean, telling us what types of fish are swimming his ocean of blue crayon. I tell him his drawings make me want to visit District Four. He says he likes it, and that it's really fun swimming and fishing during the summer.

After Finn's showing, Peeta draws things for Finn. Annie and I sit on the other side of room. She tells me how Finn looks more and more like his father every day, how she's teaching him to fish, and tie sailing knots.

"He loves it," she says. "Every week we go in the boat and sail out just for the fun of it. Sometimes we'll bring our fishing poles, because I won't be letting him use a spear anytime soon."

She watches her son, and she smiles lovingly. Something that I notice mothers do when they look at their children. I mean other mothers. I won't know the feeling and I don't remember too much of my mother doing it, but then again, I was a kid. You don't notice things like that.

It's silent between the two us, as we watch Finn and Peeta exchange drawings "I wish I could take Finn back to Four." Annie speaks more softly. She has become more solemn.

"How is Finn doing here?"

"Well," she says. "I get spend most of the day with him, but then I have to take him to be watched, when I have to work or train. It's unfortunate that there aren't children here he can play with. Last night he said he missed the ocean already." She manages a lopsided smile. Then it's silent again, and it looks like she thinking or caught up with the thoughts in her head. I let her be. Peeta catches my gaze and he smiling like he's legitimately having fun. I wouldn't be surprised.

"They became buddies pretty fast," Annie suddenly speaks.

"Uh yeah," I say. "They make a great pair."

"Katniss? Is that a-" She gestures to the ring around my neck. "It's a wedding ring, isn't it?"

"You've heard of them before?" I ask.

"An older relative of mine used to have one. I didn't know you two were married," she says joyfully.

"It's only been a little while," I say.

"I remember my wedding," she says. "It was really nice…" She seems to zone out again. I wonder if she feels happy where she goes off in her mind. Some place better than here. But she always comes back. Either because she knows she needs to or for her son.

"They get along so well," Annie says.

"Who?" I ask.

"Finn and Peeta. He must be good with kids," she says. "When this is all over, I'm sure he'll make a wonderful father."

"Yeah, I don't doubt he would," I say warily.

"You'll be a wonderful mother," she says.

I don't say anything. I don't have the heart to tell her I never want children. I just accept her compliment. How could she know that my biggest fear is losing a loved one, and that I avoid this fear by shutting out the idea of having kids? Peeta and I have talked about it before, and it always ends with him siding with me. But is it what he really wants? Could he secretly want kids?

I begin to feel anxious just thinking about it. I come up with a list of reasons in my head to refute the argument in my head. I see how happy he is Finn, and I begin to feel guilty. No, it for the best, I tell myself. You should avoid pain if you see it coming.

My thoughts go to last night, and I feel uneasy. What if I get pregnant? I can't bare to imagine what I would do. But it's alright. We're careful. There's no way I'll become pregnant. Not as long as I keep taking something. It's fine.

"It's getting late," I say. "We should probably be getting back to our compartment."

"Oh, you're right," says Annie. "Finn, say good-bye to Peeta and Katniss."

Peeta and Finn stand up. "You'll come another time?" Finn asks Peeta.

"Sure," Peeta says. "I'll find my own drawing stuff to bring."

"Okay," says Finn satisfied.

Peeta and I walk out into the hallway and Annie and Finn watch us leave.

"Bye Ms. Katniss. Bye Mr. Peeta," Finn calls out.

We wave back at him, and then walk on when they close the door. Peeta keeps his hands in his pocket, and I see him keep a small smile the whole way to the compartment.

"Enjoy your time with Finn, did you?" I ask.

"He's a good kid," Peeta says. He dresses into a t-shirt and flannel pj pants. I pick out my long night gown and then we go into the bathroom to brush our teeth. We get to the bed, pull the covers back, and slide into it. Peeta moves into a position so that I can fit close to him. He kisses me once and then when he edges closer I turn my head forward to stall.

"Is something bothering you?" he asks.

I bite my lip to give me a second to think. "Do you agree that right now isn't good a time to think about kids?"

"Kids? I don't think it's a good idea right now," he says. "Don't worry Katniss. I know how you feel about it. I would never pressure you into it. It's not safe now. I'll be happy as I long as I have you."

He kisses me once more and then we get comfortable and try for sleep. I relax a little, but my thoughts still buzz and I have hard time blanking out my mind. I think after an hour two, I decide to get a drink of water. I slowly release myself from Peeta's arms. He appears to be asleep, but he wakes up when I get out of bed.

"Nothing's wrong," I say. "I'm just getting some water. Go back to sleep."

He lays his head back down and I brush away the hair from his face with my hand. I go to the bathroom, but then decide I should try the Dining Hall. A walk might help me get to sleep.

I put on a jacket and then put on my boots. I take the key, and then tell Peeta I'll be back soon. He nods and he closes his eyes again. I quietly open the door and make my way down the hallways. In the bigger hallways there's people walking through, those who I would consider take the night shift. I find the Dining Hall and ask for a cup of water. An older lady from the line hands me one. I thank her and sit at an empty table to drink it since we can't bring things back to the compartment.

I finish my water and walk back to the ward of compartments. The hallways are empty here, and I walk calmly back to Section D. A take a turn and then notice a figure facing away from me in the poorly lit hallway. I stop for second trying to figure out who it is. It's a female, from what I can tell. It looks like Lyna or "Foxface". I find it slightly suspicious that she's here. What's she doing? She walks in the direction of my compartment, so I silently follow her from a distance.

She stops somewhere where I would think my compartment is. She takes something her out of her jacket.

It's a gun.

She slides a knife through the crack of the door and bolts inside.

My first thought is that she's broken into my compartment. I'm screaming in my head. Peeta. I sprint towards the door. _No!_

A gun shot goes off. I dreadfull fillings makes me hesitate, but I keep running.

_Please no, please no, please no. _

I skid to a halt when I reach the door way.

She stands with her back towards me, a body on the floor in front of her.

It's not Peeta.

Lyna turns suddenly and she sees me. I expect her to shoot me, but no. She raises the gun to her temple. She looks me straight in the eye and utters her final words. "_You'll being seeing the dead alive_."

"_Stop!_" I shout. She pulls the trigger and she falls to ground, lifeless.

I can't seem to make myself move, after what I just witnesses, but I remember she came here to murder someone, and I have to check if they might still be alive. I quickly walk around Lyna's body and find her victim lying on the floor.

It's Enobaria.

I press my fingers on her neck and look for a pulse. There's nothing.

"_Help!_" I shout. I attempt CPR, just like I remember from a class I took. I press my palms against her heart trying to get hear starting again. Suddenly Peeta is by my side and he's pulling me aside, because a swarm of medics have arrived.

He guides me out of the room, and I see the whole Section is awake and outside their compartments. I see Haymitch and he looks warily at me. In fact, everyone is looking at me strangely. Worried expressions cross all of their faces.

I guess District 13 isn't as safe as we thought it was.

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**I want to change the story image, but I have no clue what it should be. I will probably being drawing something. Thanks for reading and if you leave a review.**

**-cheezebuns**


	5. Chapter 5

**Starts off with Prim POV. Sorry if there's any grammatical errors. Happy reading!**

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Chapter 5

[Primrose]

I begin training for the first time.

I have a vague definition of what training is, and so I'm not totally sure what I'm in for. The doctors tell me I have to go every day. I don't mind. At least I get to go outside of this room.

I'm given clothes. The clothes are specialized for the training, and so I won't be wearing the dress, or hospital gown that I wear most of the time. I'm dressed and then I'm guided down several corridors and into a bigger hallway. I know it's really regular stuff going on, but I feel excitement when I get to leave my room for the first time.

The doctor opens the door with the press of his hand. The doors slide away to reveal a room filled with exercise equipment and machines. In a line, are people who I've never seen before. They're all different sizes and different ages, but most of them look under twenty years old. Their eyes watch at me as I enter the room, and then they turn their heads to a man standing in front of them all. He must be the trainer.

"Number 1216, stand in line," the trainer demands.

I look to my side and see the doctor who led me here has already left, leaving myself as who this trainer is talking to. So I join the group and stand at the end of the line. Once the trainer sees that I'm in line, he gives no second glance at me, and I realize during training none of them do. They just do everything they're told and they don't speak much.

Beginning the exercises, I feel weak. I am not as used to all the extraneous work. I try my hardest to keep up with them, and keep my breaks to a minimum, but I have to stop. I get tired easily.

I make an attempt at getting to know one of the strangers here. While we all lay on matts, doing crunches, I so happen to be next to a girl around my age or a little older. After a set a crunches, I find my chance to talk to her.

"Hi, I'm 1216, but my name is Primrose," I say. "What is your name?"

I catch the girl's attention and she turns. Her face is straight as she looks at me . She doesn't say anything. She just takes notice that I'm there and then begins her crunches again.

Before I can make another attempt at breaking the ice, the trainer calls us all to move on to another exercise. The trainees all get up and run off, while slowly get to my feet and run after them. This is what most of training is like.

A doctor comes to take me back to the room I stay in. He calls me by my number and then he leads the walk back. He only looks back once to see if I'm following. We enter the room, and then he goes to a cabinet and takes out multiple things, like a needle and cotton swabs.

"Sit on the table," he says. I go sit on the table. He comes with the supplies and puts it all on a cart beside him. He starts to prepare my arm for an injection and sterilizes a needle.

"What's that?" I ask.

He looks a little surprised at me suddenly speaking. "It's a needle," he says plainly. "It's filled with a liquid supplement that will improve your physical abilities."

"It will help me with training?" I ask.

He hesitates a second. "Uh yes. It will make it easier," he says.

"Good," I say. "I could use the help." I say lightly, but doctor doesn't smile back. He looks warily at me like he is not supposed to smile at all. He finishes the injection and leaves the room without another word.

It seems I sit on that table for hours. There's nothing in this room but medical supplies and this matted table I'm sitting on. The injection has caused me to feel jittery, and I can't relax enough to go to sleep. I walk around the room, completely bored out of my mind.

Then suddenly I hear the door unlocking. Rosalind enters.

"Hello Primrose," she says. "Why don't we take a seat?"

I do what she tells me and I sit back on the table. Rosalind sits in a chair across from me.

"So," she says. "How was your first day of training?"

She asks this good naturedly, and after a day of my friendliness being rejected, I gladly comply. "It was hard," I say. "I wasn't as used to it as the others. It was tiring trying to catch up with everybody else."

"First day is always tough, but tomorrow you'll do much better. Have you eaten yet?"

"Eaten?"

"Yeah, you know, like food?" she jokes.

I'm little surprised at her friendliness, but I like it and I allow myself to smile. "Uh no. I guess I haven't eaten yet."

"We'll we can't have you go hungry." She gets up from the table and goes to a screen on a wall. She presses the screen multiple times, and then after a minute wait, she goes to a slot in the wall and pulls out a tray. She hands me the tray, and sits back in her chair. "You finish that okay?"

I nod my head, and start with mysterious vegetable mush. It's really good, but I eat slowly so I don't appear to be starving. Between bites I decide Rosalind is nice, and that I can talk to her. "The other people in training," I begin, "they seem kind of conservative."

"Why do you say that?" she asks.

"Well, I tried talking to one of the girl there, but she wouldn't talk to me. They kind of just paid attention to what they were doing. They must be very devoted to their training."

Rosalind curls her mouth into a lopsided smile and pauses for just a second. "It's because they're different than you," she says.

"Different?"

"They don't quite have all the bubbly emotion that you and I have. They just listen to what they have to do and do it."

I think about her statement for a while. "Are they all like that?"

"Oh no," she says. "There are a bunch of Revivals with emotional feelings, it's just those you saw in training, haven't gotten them yet. There are some Revivals with just as much feelings as you, and they're off doing special jobs."

Revivals. I guess that is what I am, considering they said I was dead, but… I'm alive now. And so were all those people in training dead too? This should be really perplexing to me, but oddly it's not.

"Will I have a special job?" I ask.

"Yes. You'll have a very special job, but not soon. It won't be for a while. That's all I can tell you for now." She smiles. "You know, you're a very nice girl." She gets up from the chair. "I like you, Primrose." She walks off to the door and leaves.

I notice she's the only one that calls me Primrose.

The next few days it's same thing. My sessions of training are much easier. I excel more at my exercises and I feel strong. I can run a few miles without stopping, and I've gained some muscle mass overnight, I think. I'm not as fit as the others, but I'm definitely closer to their abilities.

Rosalind comes by my room every day after training. Her visits vary in time. Sometimes she only stays for a few minutes and some are much longer. I like having her come to see me. She's the only one I get to talk to and sees me as Primrose, and not Revival #1216. She tells me things, like what special Revivals do, and things about her campaign. She tells me she's running to be president. I ask of what, and she tells me of a country outside this facility. She says Revivals help her campaign, and she say I'll greatly help her one day.

One evening she takes me outside. Well, not exactly outside, but out of the facility I live in. We ride something like a subway to another part of whatever this place is. We get off the train and the place already looks different than the facility. It's like an indoor town, I tell myself. Images of towns I think I've seen enter my head, and so that's what I know what this place is like.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Just where I work," she says. "Somewhere where everything happens."

We go through sliding doors and into a room with a high ceiling and a bunch of corridors. We walk some more and stop at another door with a pad by its side like the one back in my room. Rosalind touches the screen and the doors slide open. A pair of guards stands waiting behind them.

"Here on important matters. She is with me."

The guards allow us to go further and we go through another set of doors. It's some sort of control room. There are computers all over the place and a big screen on the far wall of this huge room. Stairs go down to a lower floor of the room and there' a large table with a screen in the middle of it. It's stupefying compared to what I've seen.

A uniformed man comes to Rosalind's side with a look of urgency. "We have some important news having to do with one of our spies in District 13. We need you to report to the conference room," he says.

"Very well," she says. "My visitor will be accompanying me."

The man takes finally takes notice that I'm there. "We can't have this girl in our meeting," he says.

"This "girl" is our latest Revival, and she is more than informed of our situation. She knows, and she will be learning more for when her times comes to be an active spy. Really, she's not hearing anything new."

"These are important matters and she can't come along."

"On my authority she can."

The man willfully stays put. Rosalind acts the same way. She excuses herself and pulls the man aside. I stand there sort of awkwardly, as it looks like Rosalind talks to this man with all seriousness. After a minute she comes back. "This way, Primrose. We'll be attending an important meeting."

The same man walks in front of us to the conference room that he was talking about. There's a large table with a bunch of chairs around it. There's a screen on the table like the one in the Control Room. The people in the room eye me suspiciously and I feel very out of place.

"Our latest Revival, #1216, Primrose. I have authorized her to come. Our meetings we'll have to be of her knowledge soon, so she'll be following up."

"Fine," answers an older man for the group. He begins to straighten out his suit jacket. "We should commence."

Rosalind directs me to a chair against the wall. "You'll listen from right here, alright?"

I nod. I rather sit here than sit amidst all these important looking strangers. Rosalind takes a seat at the table near me. An older woman begins to speak. She says that a Revival spy in District 13 accomplished her primary mission, but was risked at being captured so she terminated her own life.

I'm in the dark. I've never heard of what these missions were about. I look to Rosalind, and her attention is beforehand, her expression completely straight.

"The victor from District 2, Enobaria was taken out. There was one witness and it was the victor from Twelve, Everdeen."

"Where is her location?" asks Rosalind with an authoritative tone I've never heard her use before.

"At this point she is still residing in District 13."

"Is a capture possible?" she asks.

"No. We had to relocate our spies in Thirteen due to the searches."

"What if we just send another Revival to finish her off?" asks a woman sitting at the table.

"No," snaps Rosalind. "We want to keep as many Victors as we can alive. We only kill them if they cannot be persuaded."

"And what makes you so sure that she can be persuaded?" asks the older man from before.

I see Rosalind's mouth curve into a small grin. "Because we have Primrose."

Their eyes are on me once again and I don't know why. I'm still very much in the dark. I haven't learned anything of what I'm going to do or why I'm here. The smile on Rosalind's face begins to look ominous. It makes me think that Rosalind may be hiding a lot more from me than I think she is.

[Katniss]

I'm tired. The metal chair I'm sitting on is freezing and it goes through the nightgown I'm wearing. I pull my jacket tighter around me, but it doesn't seem to help. I'm pretty much alone. There is a soldier standing beside the door and this man standing before the metal table, driving out answer after answer with his interrogation.

"What were you doing in the hallway so late?"

"I told you. I was on my way back from getting water," I say.

"You had gone to the Dining Hall to get some water. You're walking back to your compartment, and that's when you see Ms. Vells. You said you had a suspicion of Ms. Vells before this, is that correct?"

"Uh yes," I answer.

"Why is that?"

Because she was supposed to be dead.

It sounds crazy, and yet it is the truth. I thought she was Foxface, and her explanation of herself just wasn't that believable. She was eyeing me. Ever since I acknowledge her, she seemed to acknowledge me. It sounds creepy enough. This mutual suspicion of each other made things even weirder.

The man questioning me crosses his arms and stands completely straight. He eyes me for any sign of uncertainty or if I'm going to lie.

"I thought she resembled somebody I knew," I say. "Somebody who died."

The man does not even change his expression. "Was this a relative or a friend of yours?"

"No. Actually… she resembled a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. She died by eating poisonous berries."

The guy doesn't even flinch. He looks over to soldier standing by the door. "Get the laptop and research the 74th Hunger Games," he commands. He looks back to me. "And while we wait, why don't you tell me what happened after you saw Ms. Vells."

"Before the murder?" I ask plainly.

"Right," he says.

"Well, when I saw her, I was wary why she was out so late. She was walking where I was going, so I sort of followed her from a distance. She came to the hallways where my compartment was, and then she took out a small gun from her pocket."

"Was it a gun you were familiar with? Like one from training?"

"Uh no. It didn't look like any of the ones in training. Must have been hers." The guy ponders for a moment and then gives me a look to go on. "I saw her with the gun, and then she broke into a compartment and I thought… it was ours. I thought she was going to murder Peeta. I heard the gun go off."

"So you ran after her and into the compartment…"

"When I got there… she was facing away and I could see somebody lying on the ground, but that's when I realized it wasn't Peeta. It was a woman and this wasn't my compartment."

"Go on," he says.

"She realized I was there," I state. "She turned around and looked at me and I thought I was going to be shot. But she raised the gun to her temple, muttered something to me, and killed herself."

"What did she tell you?"

"I… I don't remember. It was a simple sentence… I recalled it last night, but…"

He furrows his brow in concentration, and looks at his communicator, and then back to me. "Can you try to remember? What she said could be very important."

"I know. It's just that I can't really recall." I sit tensely, trying to remember the last words she muttered to me, but my head is in a fog. I don't know how long he lets me sit like this, but he tells me to go on with what happened.

"I went over to the person lying on the ground, and saw it was Enobaria. I checked her pulse, tried to revive her, and then that's when everybody came into the room."

There's a long minute of silence. It's broken by the soldier coming back with the computer. I'm dismissed and told I'll be called back if there is further questioning.

I get up from the chair and walk out of the room. Peeta has been standing outside the room, waiting. When he sees me, he staightens up and walks up to me, appearing exhausted. "Let's go back to the compartment."

I simply nod. He takes my hands and we walk back. We enter inside our room, and I begin to take off my boots. Peeta hangs my father's jacket on a dresser. I get under the blankets and lay on my side. Peeta sits on the bed and strokes my hair. The gesture comforts me a bit, but I find it useless trying to sleep. The scene of last night replays in my head as I try to remember what Lyna said.

Much later, I feel the bed shift with my eye closed. Peeta has gotten up before the alarm clock, and he's starting to change in his grey clothes.

"You're leaving?" I ask, my voice raspy.

"You're awake," he says. "I still have to go on with my schedule. I wasn't given a leave."

"That doesn't seem right," I say.

"We're not registered as married here," says Peeta. "They won't let me stay with you through training."

"I don't want you go," I say. He looks tired, and having him here lets me know that he's okay. The incident made realize how unmanageably scary it is to lose him.

Wordlessly, he finishes dressing and comes back to bed. He lies down on top of the sheets and puts his arm around my waist from behind.

"What about Cass?" I ask.

"She'll get over it," he replies.

Within the week the rest of victors left are called for another meeting. I can't tell myself I don't know what it's going to be about. The news of Enobaria's murder made news quickly. Security started inspections in soldiers' quarters. They began to look at each resident's file to make sure they weren't spies. This is because when they looked up Lyna's file, there basically nothing there. There was nothing that said where she came from or if she had any family. There was only her name, age, and the day she was admitted. Security was absolutely perplexed as of how this stayed unnoticed for so long.

I was only given one day of leave. The following days I pulled myself through my schedule and training. It's bothering me how close I came to die again. I admit I was a bit shaken, but I stay focus during the day. I don't want to appear distant and apprehensive, or they might think I should be in a hospital somewhere. My nightmares are back in full force, but Peeta manages to console me. I worry though, that all this might trigger a flashback.

Soldier Cayes, the guy who escorted us when we first got here, starts knocking on our door to go to Command. We exit the room, and Haymitch comes out too. The three of us make our way to the meeting. Annie joins us on the way. When we get there, Beetee and Johanna have already arrived. The same two generals we met when we got here are standing in the front of the room, along with some other soldiers I can't name. On the left side of the room stands Plutarch Heavensbee. He looks a lot older from when I last saw him. Well it's been three years.

"How are you feeling, Katniss?" he asks when he sees me.

"Fine enough," I reply.

"We're very glad you didn't get hurt. But of course my condolences to Enobaria. She was still a part of this group."

"This "group" is why she probably died in the first place," mutters Johanna. "Victors are on a hit list, and it sucks that we can't do anything to stop it."

"You're wrong. We're doing something," says Annie. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic."

"Well look how well it's going so far," she retorts.

Annie's soft expression turns into a scowl. I've never really seen her get mad like this.

General Conrade calls the attention to himself. "Let's just go through what we found out with the investigation," he says tiredly. "Take your seats."

I sit next to Peeta and he holds one of my hands under the table for support. General Conrade paces slowly back and forth in the front of the room. "Lyna Vells was indeed part of the underground group under investigation," he states. "That fact that she closely resembles a now dead tribute could be coincidence, or it may have something to with the group's lab. We don't really know." He directs his eyes at me when he says that.

"There was an autopsy done on both of the bodies and we found something very peculiar about Lyna Vells'." The screen shows a photo a pale arm, and on it is a tattoo under her forearm. Tattooed are 4 digits with what looks like a small barcode. 0515. "This may be some kind of identification number from where she came from. We could assume that people in that group all have numbers like this, or that she could be a product of the group."

"A product?" questions Haymitch.

"From their lab," fills in General Verges. "The Capitol scientific research has been kept secret since the Rebellion, and even now we don't know if someone still managed to keep some things hidden. I can't exactly say _who_ or _wha_t Lyna Vells is."

The scary thing is that this underground group can have everything from the Hunger Games. The monsters coming out of their lab have no limit to how dangerous they can be. Mutts were given dead tributes' features, and that may be one of the scariest encounters I have had with what they could do.

Was Lyna a mutt made to resemble Foxface? Or it could have been something much worse; she could have been the real Foxface.

"She was a mutt!" says Johanna.

"You said you guys had spies? Have they found out anything about this?" asks Peeta.

"They haven't been able to get into the labs yet. Anymore action trying to, they might be discovered."

"We're a bunch of sitting ducks then," says Haymitch.

"We're going to give you all an option as of what you want to do now," says Plutarch. " We're giving you the choice of staying in District 13 or going to District 2. District 2 is joined with the investigation. They offer you the protection and work. Yet, I can assure you that you will be safe here with the new regulations, but if you feel more comfortable going to Two, then you'll be leaving on a hovercraft within the next two days."

I look to Peeta, and he's thinking about it. There's no real clear choice to say which is safer.

"We'll get back to you on that, alright? I'll have to tell them ahead of time. You all can leave for now," Plutarch says.

"We'll need your decision by tomorrow morning," says Conrade.

Johanna is the first to leave. The rest of us follow out. All of this is getting to everyone. Johanna is briskly walking ahead like she's angry. I guess I could feel the same way about this.

Peeta pushes Beetee's wheelchair in front of Haymitch and I.

"What do you think about all this?" I ask him.

"About what exactly?"

"This organization, Enobaria's dead, this Lyna Vells person."

"Lyna Vells," he says. "You thought she was one of the District 5 tributes from your first Games."

"I did," I say, "but there are lots of reasons-"

"I saw her before she died," says Haymitch. "Looking at her, it's not wrong of you to think like that. There wasn't any limit to what the Capitol did during the Games, so why would there be one now? Victors have seen the ugly things they can come up with, we've dealt with them, and you know what I think? They could come up with a lot worse."

I think about what he said. He would only think that far if there was no easy way out of this. Considering this organization is a byproduct of the Capitol, there is no easy way out. This will only get more difficult.

"Will this end?" I ask in a low tone.

Haymitch lets out a long breath and doesn't look at me. "I can't really say, Sweetheart. Well at least not soon."

We drop off Beetee and then we go to our compartments to sleep. Peeta unlocks the door and we walk into our nighttime routine. It's not until we're both in bed that one of us brings up the decision we need to make.

"There isn't really any good reasons why should stay, and yet there aren't for going. I would think we're at the same risk in both places."

"I don't look forward to moving, but I admit it would be nice to be above ground," I say.

"That's true," says Peeta. "Maybe we'll be actually doing something there."

I think about what we're leaving in District 13, and it's not much. If everyone else decides to go to Two, then we would be leaving nothing. I can't say that they're all going, but if I had to choose regardless…

"Let's go," I say assuredly. "Let's just go to District 2."

Peeta looks at me with the corners of his mouth curved upward. "Decision made. We're going to Two."

* * *

**It didn't want to end there, but it would have been really long. I admit this isn't the most intense chapter, but the next ones should be better. Have any comments how this story can be improved? I will gladly accept them. Thank you guys for reading! **

**-cheezebuns**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you Inyuasha'sLove Kagome and FictionGirl2000 for reviews! Happy reading!**

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Chapter 6

[Katniss]

_I whistle a signal to Peeta. I wait for his response, but there is none. Dread over takes me and I fear that Cato has found him. I run as fast as I can to where I last left him, and only find our supplies in a pile with roots and berries. No Peeta_

_I call out his name in panic. I don't care if Cato hears me. I just need to hear a response from my ally. A reassurance, a call for help, anything._

_Because this has happened before. An unheard whistle and Rue was dead. _

_But he comes out unharmed, and my fear turns into anger. I shout at him for not replying, even though he wasn't at fault. I'm trembling, and he puts his arms around me. I release myself from his arms due to my lasting anger. I find our food has been eaten, and only use it as an excuse to shout at him again, but he says he hasn't touched it._

_Examining the berries, I find out they're nightlock. My father's voice sounds in my head. "Not these, Katniss. Never these. They're nightlock. You'll be dead before they reach your stomach."_

_And there's the sound of the canon, and I whip around expecting Peeta to collapse to the ground, but it's not for him. _

_The hovercraft appears, and then it carries away Foxface's emaciated body._

My head aches from leaning on the hard wall of the hovercraft. I spent most of the ride in this position, looking out the window. There's nothing really to see outside, since it's night. The vast blackness doesn't really change, except for tiny specks of light from stars. But I've been thinking, and with no pressure to start up small talk, I've let my thoughts just take over. I decide I have had enough time thinking. I slowly move from my position and look around the hovercraft to see if I'm the only one remaining awake.

Everyone is awake. Johanna sits with her arms crossed, watches outside in a stare. Peeta is fully awake and looks out in the distance in front of him. Haymitch has his eyes closed, but I can tell he is still conscious from his breathing. Having to abruptly wake him multiple times as our mentor, I know he snores.

Towards the cockpit, sits other soldiers and regular passengers going to District 2. General Verges sits among them. I'm not sure why she left District 13, but I assume it's because she's in charge of this whole operation. I don't care enough to ask.

Beetee and Annie chose to stay in District 13. Beetee had already begun to work in the district's arsenal, and the officials convinced him to stay, along with his own sense of purpose to help out. _"I've outsmarted them before. I've kept cautious and alert, and I won't be letting it down any time soon. Don't worry about me."_

Annie did not want to take her son away after just settling in. The environment of District 2 calls for more work to be done from its soldiers, and the Nut isn't where a 3 year old boy should be hanging around. She was genuinely sad to see us go, especially Finn, who calls Peeta his drawing buddy. Peeta gave the boy a pat on his head and encouragement to take care of his mother. After leaving them, I could tell he felt bad about Finn. And seeing him become sad with having to leave their barely established friendship behind, I felt glum.

Arriving in District 2, the lights in the cabin begin to brighten. The passengers begin to slowly wake, while a beeping sound announces we're descending. I'm rubbing the ring I wear around my neck between my fingers, a nervous habit I've picked up recently. I don't know what for sure awaits us when we get off this craft, or what is going to happen in the future that doesn't look very auspicious for us. I tell myself I just have to put away all the uncertainty and take things one at a time. But it's easier said than done.

From the airdrome we're guided into a hillside entrance of the Nut which is the location of its physical airport. Our bags are inspected and we're sent on our merry way out of the airport. We were told that each of us would be staying with different residents in different homes. These residents offered to shelter us until we get more permanent housing arrangements. The only condition I did not agree to was to reside away from Peeta. They said it would be safer to be separated, but Peeta and I asserted why we should be able to stay in the same house, even if they didn't put into consideration that we were married.

Haymitch and Johanna put up with their own arrangements without argue. They'll just be a few buildings away from us. The household we're staying with is made up of an elderly woman with her two adult sons and a slightly younger daughter. The elderly woman's children all work in the Nut, and I think they're secretly supposed to be looking over us. I find it sort of odd, because we're about the same age as them.

The daughter, named Phillia, takes us up to attic where we'll be staying. She's nice, I think. She brings in a small lamp, because there's no other lighting in here. She wishes us good-night and closes the door after her as she leaves.

Peeta turns on the lamp and that's when I get a real view of our new room. It's still dark, but there's a tiny window that allows a bit of moon shine to go through. The ceiling is the shape of their roof, so you can't stand straight against the walls except for the wall with the exit and the one with the window. Chests and boxes line the wall where the ceiling is low, and two twin-sized beds are near the window with their head boards to the wall and a night stand in the middle.

Two separate beds. This may be a problem. I look to Peeta, questionably. He smiles in return. He pulls the blanket back of one, and takes the pillow of the vacant one and puts it beside his. He motions his arm for me to come forward, to join him. I contently get into the single bed with him, and lay my head in the nook of his shoulder. I don't mind at all with sharing this small bed, as long as I am close to my husband.

"Hope you both slept well," says the elderly woman from her seat in the kitchen.

Peeta and I were woken up early by Philla, so that we could join them on the way to the Nut. Philla was not as nice as she seemed when she woke us up, but I might consider it somewhat are fault for not jumping out of bed at her first call.

"Yes, we slept great," says Peeta. The two sons finish lacing up their boots in the living room and Philla is starting for the door.

"That's good," the woman responds. "Good luck on your first day." Her mouth turns into a smirk, and she says it in a way that sounds a bit mischievous, and not so much a cheery "good luck to you".

"Thank you," Peeta responds to be polite. Soon the rest of us are set to go and we exit the house.

We ride in the district subway system to get to the headquarters. Johanna and Haymitch have caught up with us and when we enter one of the cars, I'm reminded this is the subway system that was blown up during the rebel's infiltration of the Nut. The fire, the explosion, the injured man with the gun. My memory is triggered by just stepping onto a car.

Inside the headquarters, we get lost for awhile. We're supposed to meet with Verges in a conference room. Johanna leads us down multiple hallways. When Haymitch questions her, she snaps at him, but we do eventually find where we're supposed to be. We all thank her for that. And when Verges tells us we're late, we blame that on Johanna too.

"Rosalind is going public," states Verges.

"What does that mean?" asks Peeta.

"She's touring the districts, giving speeches, and hosting rallies. She's trying to influence commoners to support her party."

"And do they buy it?" asks Johanna.

"Is it perplexing that they do?" says Verges. "Rosalind has been very educated in influencing people. That's why she's a representative. Of course some people are not so open-minded about Snow's grand-daughter governing Panem."

"And what about the murders? Do they know that she is allegedly a part of it?"

"It was actually brought up during a press conference that was conducted in District 1. A journalist blamed her for the assassination attempts. What she answered is not surprising. She denied it."

"What?" Johanna shouts. "The bastard on video that almost killed Beetee has their emblem on his arm! How can she deny it? And then just coincidentally somebody wipes out Enobaria? What ever happened to '_kill somebody important to scare the shit out people so they'll follow you'_?"

Verges looks at Johanna, not moving at all. She blinks. Then she turns, presses a button on the device in her hand, and a simple television screen buzzes to life. A frame of the press conference emerges, and that first thing that becomes identifiable is Rosalind with her red hair and blood red lips.

A man from the crowd calls her guilty of using unmoral motives for her campaign. Rosalind looks unchanged. The man asks her further why was Enobaria was killed.

"_I will inform you that I had no part in the murder of the victor from District would she need to be killed? She is a retired celebrity was only brought into fame by unethical and wicked Games that killed hundreds of children and stole their innocence. She was the fittest in the survival that Cornelius Snow forced upon Panem. But I do say that although victors could have only won by giving into these pressures and murder, it's not their fault. I am sorrowful to see one of our beloved victors go and not live to see Panem evolve into a better country."_

"She's so full of crap!" says Johanna.

I fully agree with her. Not only did she lie about not having anything do with it, but she's trying to make victors look bad. She doesn't want these people thinking she's evil if she had fault in Enobaria's death, but to make victors look like the remaining burdens of the Hunger Games.

"How could they have bought this?" I say thinking aloud.

"She's a politician. They're persuasive. We have the spies working inside, but really our real counter attack is the opposing candidate."

"Do we have one?" I ask.

"There might be two, actually. Paylor and possibly a candidate from District 11." Verges pauses the video on a frame where if you look closely, she flashes a smile I would call evil.

"How much more does she go on?" I ask.

"She goes on a little bit about Enobaria, about her games…"

"That seems like a bad topic for a eulogy," says Haymitch. "The girl ripped people's throats out with her teeth."

"Making it look like her death wasn't bad thing," says Peeta.

"That may be what she's going for," says Verges. "But lastly, she speaks about her ideas, and that what will people will really listen to."

The room stays quiet. "I have a task at hand that you all may consider accepting. Just to help in service of our base. I'm sure you all aren't here to stick around the headquarters," says Verges.

A mission, I think. I may just take it blindly, since I don't want to stay like I was in District 13. If Peeta accept then I'll accept it, whatever it is.

"This might be a little soon, but it is up to you. As you know the rallies are starting up in some of the districts, and they've gotten a little out of hand. It isn't much, but soldiers are needed to disperse the crowds when things get into riot. Your identities will be concealed from the public for your safety."

This may not be exactly what I was expecting, and by the look on Johanna's face, it isn't what she was thinking either.

"You've had your training in District 13, but you'll need to attend at least three days of training here. We have our recently promoted soldiers leading the soldiers in the districts, so you'll know what you will be doing at all times. I expect these tours will not last more than a month, and so you should be expected to return within that time."

"I'll do it," Johanna says plainly.

I turn to look at Peeta to see what he's thinking, and with a slight nod I know what he means. "Alright, I'll go."

"So will I," says Peeta

There's only Haymitch left, and he sits his chair casually like he isn't considering anything.

"Soldier Abernathy, since you are in a different age group, you can join them, but will be set to do different tasks."

"Give me a minute to think about it," he responds casually.

Verges raises an eye brow. "You'll give me your answer by this evening,"

"That's fine," he says.

Do I want Haymitch to go? I don't know. You'd think having someone that you're close with, come along would be comforting. But he's not in the best shape of his life. I don't want him to get seriously injured for going. He's… old. And another reason, although I care about him, he gets on my nerves sometimes. I just won't meddle in his decision. I'll just deal with whatever he chooses.

The training is very similar to what we went to in District 13. It's boot camp pretty much, and the routines are closely related. The only difference that I find somewhat irritating is that male and female soldiers are separated and trained by their capabilities. I know well that males just are naturally given just a bit of an advantage in physical ability, and women aren't as fortunate in that category. But what I find irritating is having my gender force me into groups likes this.

When it comes to training with weapons, we aren't separated, but I don't get the option of training alongside with Peeta or Johanna. Shooting my gun reminds me with my encounter with Enobaria in training back in Thirteen. I wonder if she changed at all after three years, and if there was the possibility of changing from enemies to acquaintances. I think being friends is a bit far-fetched.

When we're called to the archery range, I can't help the smirk that plays on my lips. Shooting a bow just feels natural to me and it's something that I excel at. I pick my bow. I pick my target. I aim my arrow. And it hits the bull's-eye.

"Always the perfect shot. You never miss do you?"

The hand that released the arrow freezes, and I grip the bow tightly in my other hand. I become apprehensive with the feeling of him watching me. I know I will have to turn around to face him, but I wish that I didn't have to.

"I have my off days I say," without my eyes leaving the target. I drop my arms and I turn, finally, to face him.

His dark hair is cut short, and he's wearing a soldier's uniform. He's grown a bit of beard, but his eyes are still the same. Piercing grey, looking at me just as I remember when I last saw them.

* * *

**My apologies for the chapter being short. I will be w/o a computer for the next week, and I didn't want to make you guys wait a whole other week. It's very late right now, but I had to get this up! I really like writing in Johanna in this chapter. So you must know who she encounters at the end, and so the next chapter will pick up from there. Thank you for reading, and reviews would be lovely.**

**-cheezebuns**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you Browniangel, Inyuasha'sLoveKagome, Random Thought Girl, FanfictionGirl2000 for your lovely reviews. Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 7

[Katniss]

"_We could do it, you know," he says quietly._

"_What?" I ask._

"_Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," Gale says._

_I don't respond. The idea is preposterous considering we couldn't leave our families who rely on us to bring home food. But he knows that. And the idea diminishes with reality in mind._

Hunting in the woods back in District 12 seems more like a dream than a memory. Our plan seemed almost childish compared with how both our lives turned out. How could our younger selves predict where we would be right now?

He acts casually, opposite of what I'm feeling right now. I notice everybody is off at other stations, leaving Gale and I almost alone. He takes a bow hanging on a wall and takes my spot at the range. I stand there in silence, waiting for some kind of awkward conversation that I don't feel like having.

Gale aims his arrow and pulls back the string on the bow. I watch it release and hit just centimeters away from the bull's-eye.

"Not bad, right? Just not as good as yours," he says coolly, but I feel edged. He turns to look at me, and I can't help but cross my arms over my chest.

"You were just one for trapping and snares," I say straightly. After the words that come out of my mouth, I realize the unintentional meaning behind them. Gale's expression hardens. He's obviously thinking what I'm thinking. Instead of responding he takes another arrow and shoots the target. This one is off by more.

"It's been three years, yet I didn't expect you lessen your grudge against me," he says with frustration in his tone.

"I don't blame you," I say irritated.

"Really, but you won't stop associating me with bomb that killed her," he says lowly. I want to counter his statement, but I can't find the words to tell him that's not true. "If that wasn't it, why haven't you spoken to me in years?"

Looking straight into his eyes, I can't lie. I do associate him with the bomb that killed my sister. It's the truth, but I wish it wasn't. How could I not when he was the one designing death traps? It scared me. I saw him making them. I saw how immoral they seemed, but I didn't do anything until it killed Prim. I would think we're both at fault.

"I bet you haven't even looked at the letter, have you?"

It takes a second to understand what he's talking about. Shit. I haven't, but that's only because I was almost killed and forced out of my home because an evil organization is out to get me.

"I haven't had the time, if you recall I'm on a hit-list," I say.

He doesn't seem too satisfied with my answer, but he doesn't look as angry. "And that's why you're here," he states. "And how do you like it so far?"

"I hate it," I answer plainly.

He smirks. "I figured, but I find it better here than in Twelve."

I find something in the way he says it pesters me. "Of course you do, Mr. Bigshot. I'm sure your knowledge of human traps is useful here."

His face turns into a scowl. Why do I continue this fight and keep aggravating him? I don't know, but he's doing it to me and I will not simply take it.

"You are just so incredibly stubborn. If you don't forgive anyone and let go of the past, it will just swallow you whole. That's why you been so stuck in your misery all this time," Gale says crossly.

"You don't know me! I'm been through so much more than you can say," I shout.

"Of course. It's not like I was your best friend or anything," he says bitterly.

We've been so caught up in our hostility that I didn't notice Peeta walk up. "What's going on?" he asks straightforwardly.

I cross my arms and look away from both of them. Gale turns away from me and answers back heatedly. "We were just having a heated conversation, but really it's none of your business."

"I would say it is my business considering you're upsetting my wife," He says assertively.

I feel Gale's look go from Peeta to me, and I only glance at him from the side, not wanting to look at him fully.

"You two are married? Forgive me for not congratulating you on your happy day," he scoffs. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go back to work."

Gale leaves the training room in a quick walk. I let down my arms and watch him go. What happen to him?

...

That evening we join up with Haymitch and buy supper from a stand in town. We're not really supposed to be out, except when we go to where we're boarding and to the Nut. So we sort of snuck out.

I pull my hood over my head for the warmth and to somewhat conceal my face, but really I don't find anything to worry about in the middle of crowed street. The streets are sloped with the mountain, which makes walking on the snow a little more difficult. The sun has gone down, leaving my vision in a blue tint. The street lights and the shop windows are the only source of light that keep us from stepping on ice.

Peeta holds one of my hands while I take a sip of my soup in my other hand. It's so steamy and warm that I hold close to my face for the heat. It's good too, although it not as good as Greasy Sae's.

Haymitch sneezes, blowing out some of the soup from his cup.

"Getting sick, Haymitch?" Peeta asks.

"Hell no I won't," he mutters. He takes another swallow of his soup. "If I get sick, I'm not relying on our 'Healer' get me well."

I realize he's referring me. "I'm no healer. I'm usually the one killing things," I say.

"Not true," Peeta says. "You healed my leg in our first Games."

"You got blood poisoning. You don't have it." I say lowly.

"You saved my life didn't you? I'm still here." He kisses me on the head while we're still walking. I try not to think about the Games.

We come by where Haymitch is staying and drop him off. Peeta and I walk slowly back to where we're bunking. It's at this time that Peeta decides to bring up dropping in my little feud with Gale. He only asks because he's concerned, and I know owe him at least an explanation.

So I start with how we came to meet, and how the conversation turned ugly. I tell him about how I truly still associated Gale with Prim's death, and that even though he didn't kill her directly, I still feel he has some wrong in it. Then I tell him I feel I have some fault in her death too. That maybe I didn't everything to prevent it. He ends my confliction by wrapping his arms around me and assuring me that I did everything I could. But did I?

"The letter…" I state with sudden remembrance.

"Hmm?"

"It was the night of our wedding, after I had walked my mother home, she gave me letters. One of them was from Gale," I say.

Peeta doesn't say anything, but he becomes attentive to the subject. "What did it say?" he finally asks.

"I didn't read it," I reply. "At least I didn't want read it that night, not the day of our wedding."

"You haven't read it?"

"No, I mean, that's when we had to leave home, and I left it there."

He seems to ponder this for a moment. "Well, let's hope it wasn't an incredibly heartfelt apology that he thought would win you over," he says lightly.

"No, because I love you," I say sincerely. Before entering the house, I put my arms around his neck and kiss him. When the door begins to rattle, we break apart. Philla's elderly mother opens the door and lectures us for being late. She ushers us to the attic. I can't help but smile at how ridiculous it seems. As if we were teenagers.

We dress into our sleeping clothes, brush our teeth, and this time we rearrange the beds together so we are more comfortable. As I lay in my usual spot on Peeta's chest, I begin to think about what the letter could have said. Could it have been some kind of apology? Knowing Gale, that seems a little unlikely. He really is just as stubborn as me. What if it was something else… like something important that might have changed things. Like what? I don't know. At least I don't have worry about it being an _incredibly heartfelt apology that would win me over_, right? I begin to ponder this idea, but it sounds absurd. It really couldn't be. I've chosen already. I love Peeta. It's always been him.

I tilt my head up and lay on my stomach. I reach for my lips to press his. When he we break apart from our osculation, he opens his eyes and looks at me affectionately. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" he asks softly.

"Because…" I begin softly. "I love you." We join lips again, this time so tenderly that I begin feel the familiar sensation I call happiness. It begins to grow and our kiss turns from doting to passionate. The feel of him so close is inviting, but I open my eyes and part from him.

"What about… them?" I ask referring to Philla and her family. "What if they… hear us?" I ask sheepishly.

"We'll be quite, then," he whispers. Could I say that is not a satisfactory answer, but I don't care? As if I'm giving permission to go on, I kiss his jaw, and then he complies pressing his lips on my neck.

Nope, I do not care.

...

Philla knocks loudly on the door the next morning to wake us up. I jolt up in bed with the covers up to my neck. My face warms as if the door has been opened, but it stays close and she calls a few times before leaving. I nudge Peeta to wake up, and nudge him harder when he doesn't move. We both get dressed quickly and report downstairs. I avert my eyes from the other household residents, but I have nothing to worry about, because they act casually and nothing seems different.

We get to the base with Johanna and go through the same schedule of yesterday. I don't see Gale at all during the day. He must be very busy, or he's avoiding me. It could be both, really. We fly through our training and classes and then at the end of the day, Verges reminds us that we'll be leaving to District 11 the day after tomorrow for our assigned job. We'll just be breaking down riots or holding back crowds from Rosalind's rallies which don't seem too hard. I'm looking forward to getting out of Two for a little while. It feels like I'm actually doing something. It also means I won't have another confrontation with Gale.

Another day goes by, and still no sign of my former best friend. I should find relief in this, but now that I know that he's here, I'm counting on him to pop out of nowhere. I have mixed feelings about seeing him, and I can't decipher what they are. I hate him, but I miss him. It doesn't make sense. This confusion will not go away until I see him, which _fortunately_ for me, is the next day.

...

Peeta and I woke up even earlier because we would be taking the morning train to District 11. Johanna joins us at the station, but no sign of Haymitch. The station is empty of regular citizens, but crowed with soldiers. The three of us seem to stand out from the other soldiers. We stand in one place, not knowing where we're supposed to go. The real soldiers know what they're doing, they move with purpose. They hoist their sacks on the cars and gather into groups.

"Good morning, soldiers."

I turn around to see Verges standing tall. She holds out her hand with tags dangling from her fingers. "You'll need these to know what team you are in."

We each take one with our corresponding information on it. These would have been helpful earlier.

"You all will be riding in car Six," says Verges. "Your other team members have already boarded, including your team captain. I suggest you don't waste any more time."

We depart from Verges and find our train car. We board the simple train car and look for an empty bench that will seat the three of us. We squeeze through the narrow passageway with our bags above our heads.

"There," points Peeta to a vacant bench. We wriggle from the passageway and shove our bags under the bench. We finally begin to take our seats.

"You three are late. You were supposed to be in the car by five twenty-five AM."

I look up to the speaker. And it's Gale of course. Our team captain.

"I hope you will not cause any more delay," he says completely straight.

"Of course not," I answer back simply.

He doesn't say another word and takes a seat between two soldiers. When his back is facing us, Johanna looks over at me and raises an eyebrow in question. I shake my head in return and she sits back knowingly. I start rubbing the ring I wear around neck in habit.

The train ride becomes long and boring, considering we're riding all the way to District 11. The car we're riding in has no windows, but little openings on the side. It's from these openings I see we go through a forest that is a part of District 12. We don't station there, though. We just ride through until we reach District 11 early morning the next day.

The car doors open, letting in the coldness of early morning, and the smell of farmland. My last visit to District 11 was on the Victory Tour when Peeta and I gave a speech causing a ruckus by sharing our earnings. I hear the gun shot ring in my head and see the old man fall to the ground…

"Katniss?"

"Wha- what is it?" I ask absentminded.

"We're leaving," Peeta says.

"Right," I say getting up. Peeta gives me his hand and helps me up. We grab our bags and exit the cart.

Gale leads our little team on a trek, along with the other groups. We walk through some parts of town, and I notice it has improved since I last been here. Ever since the Rebellion, the districts have gained an equal distribution of wealth which helps build the town and improve living conditions. The people here look happier. Rue would have liked to see it.

We find ourselves outside of the town and near all the orchards and fields. About a mile later we stop in open area just outside the cluster of buildings and before the vast farm fields. Carts carrying supplies and equipment are unloaded, and all the soldiers begin setting up their tents.

I set up my tent next to Peeta's, although I don't think I'll be sleeping in it. Johanna sets hers up nearby, but I see her slam a pole into the ground in frustration, so I hesitantly walk over.

"Need help?"

"No thanks, Mockingjay. I got it all under control," she says. I find it odd she still calls me that, but I don't point it out. I don't like being called Mockingjay, but I don't want to tell her this when she on the verge of blowing up.

"Alright then," I say. She'll set it up eventually. I go back to pretending to set up my things for sleep. I shove a sleeping bag into it for good measure.

...

In the evening, supper is made over a fire. Peeta helps the others by slicing vegetables and throwing them into the pot. I sit on the ground a distance from the fire and watch them cook. Occasionally, my eyes wander around to where Gale is. He sits on the other side, with some other captains. He reads images off his communicuff and consults the others with plans for tomorrow. They say Rosalind will be coming sometime this week.

"What's the deal between you two?"

I look over to my side and see Johanna sitting against a pack. She eyes Gale and looks at me.

"I heard you guys back in training the other day," she says. "It wasn't small talk."

"It's a long story. I don't want to talk about it," I say.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me what you were fighting about," she says. "I just want to know if you two are still cousins."

I look over at her, confused. "What do you mean? We were never related."

"I know that," she says. "I mean is he still the second guy? I know you married Mellark, but does he know that?"

"What?... I mean we're not even friends anymore! He doesn't… love me like that… He knows I'm married."

"Uh huh."

"You're getting this out of nowhere! Why would you…?"

"Relax," she says. "I just wanted to know his availability."

I sigh and rub my temples in effort to relax. Really I don't care about him. I just want to get this mission over with.

...

[Primrose]

"_Primrose Everdeen!"_

_My breath catches in my throat the second I hear my name, clear as day, from the woman in the pink wig. She searches the crowd with her eyes. Looking for this poor girl called to participate in the games, which just so happens to be me._

_I have to go up there, I realize._

_I feel my face drain of color and I clench my fist to stay stable as I begin to walk up to the stage. I feel myself shaking, but I can't let them see I'm afraid, even though I am. I have to be strong, but my eyes water with the fear of what's to come._

_Small. Stiff. Steps. I can't make myself move any faster. And then I hear her._

"_Prim!" A strangled cry. "Prim!"_

_An arm comes around and pushes me back from the steps. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"_

_There is talking going on the stage, but somehow this person I love has volunteered to take my place and I cry for it not to happen. I wrap my arms around her. I scream and do what I can to not let her go._

"_No, Katniss! No! You can't go!" I scream._

"_Prim, let go," she says harshly. "Let go!"_

_I'm torn away from her, and thrash in the arms of the person who dares to take me away. "No!"_

_..._

I wake up, and jolt up from my sleeping matt. My heart is pounding in my chest and I still feel incredibly sad. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, but the empty feeling still lingers. I recall the details of the dream in my head. It seemed so real, and what makes it strange is I was shown a picture of this girl in my dream. The doctor showed me it. What was her name?

"Katniss," I say to myself.

Rosalind sits at her desk writing things down. He has that concentrated look on her face, and after days of watching her work I know this isn't the time to bother her. I sit in the comfy chair and tap my fingers on the arm rest waiting for my chance to ask her. I watch her write and read off her computer. She's been awfully busy lately. She travels to different districts to give speeches. So she'll leave for about two days and come back. Then she'll leave again to a different district. I find that it becomes lonely when she isn't here, but I'm happy she's working toward her dream of becoming president.

Rosalind sighs and puts down her pen. She looks at me and smiles. "Let's take break, shall we?"

I nod my head, and realize this is my chance.

Rosalind and I walk into a lobby, where we're given glasses of a fizzy pink beverage. We go sit on smooth black sofas in a sitting area. Rosalind takes a sip of her bubbly drink and looks out the window.

I have to ask her now.

I take a sip and place my glass down. "Rosalind," I begin. She turns to look at me. "I was wondering if you knew…"

"Yes?"

"Who is Katniss?"

Rosalind's expression is not what I expected. Instead of answering straightly, she hesitates. She places her glass down. "Where did you hear that?" she asks.

If I say I dreamt it, she will probably say Katniss isn't real. She'll dismiss it. But I'm sure she does exist because this isn't the first time I've seen her. A picture, flashbacks, dreams.

"I overheard someone," I lie. "They were talking about a Katniss, and I was just wondering who she is." I'm hoping my explanation didn't sound too suspicious or fake.

"I see," she says as she looks off in the distance. "Well, what you need to know is that Katniss is just a variable in your mission."

"That's it?"

"Yes," she responds. She drinks more of pink beverage and leaves on the table. "It looks I have more work to do. It's probably best if you go back to your room. You'll just be bored in my office." She gets up and walks away down the hallway, her heels clacking the whole way.

She's not telling me everything, that's for certain. I don't know if I completely trust her anymore. What if she's lying to me? Maybe I should just keep things to myself and figure out what's going on.

Katniss. I knew her.

* * *

**Oh the irony. Katniss cannot be more harder on poor Gale for killing her sister. I hope Prim's attitude isn't different than what would be expected. Although she is 16, and you wouldn't expect her be like twelve-y self. Thanks for reading and reviews would absolutely lovely! Oh yeah, cover change. Still the same, but slightly better.**

**-cheezebuns**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A shrill whistle snaps me awake. How I hate that whistle.

"_Up and at 'em! Come on, move it!"_

I sit up and slowly put my boots on, while Peeta does the same. It blows again and I cringe. It's almost as irritating as the person who's blowing it.

"_Another day, wake up at face it_," Gale shouts from somewhere outside the tent.

"_We heard you the first time!" _That sounded like Johanna.

Actually, I have no doubt that was her.

Peeta and I put on our jackets and come out of our tent. A gush of cold wind hits my face, and I pull on my hood.

"Report in line!"

The mornings are always like this. Woken up by a whistle, run a few miles, get a perfectly portioned breakfast, and then off to work. Work is usually just chores around the camp or patrolling around town for anything suspicious. Rarely do we find anything out of the ordinary, so it's more like our captain is telling us to go for a walk.

Gale acts indifferent to me, and that is just fine. I much rather save all confliction away and act like strangers. It's probably not good for the both of us, but I am not good with consolation. I know it will all have to come out one day, and I'll face to face up to it, but it won't be soon. I think I'll hold my grudge a bit longer.

Gale gives me the patrolling shift with another soldier named Ryke. All we do is walk around town and look for any sign of the organization or something that says 'Conspiracy'. There isn't too much excitement here in District 11, the reason being that Rosalind's influence hasn't reached here yet. Broadcasts on TV are limited, because fortunately Plutarch is in control of that, and he doesn't want anything dangerous being aired. Rosalind just hasn't made it a priority to reach the people of District 11. And I don't think they care too much to listen to her.

She's won some favor in the other district like 1, 4, and 5, but when she visited 3 and 7, they stayed stubborn. They weren't easily persuaded by this Capitol leader, and I hope it's like it here. It seems the districts that had it harder before the Rebellion still want to stay away from Capitol influences like her.

Ryke and I walk along a road that goes through a neighborhood of small homes. Behind the houses are rows and rows of orange trees that still have their leaves. It's winter I realize, but it's much warmer here than in District 12.

I see people watch us from their windows. They only look at us in curiosity, and not with any kind of suspicion or fear like Peacekeepers. Ryke seems to be the friendly kind, because he says good evening to every person he sees on their porch. I find it a little strange, but at least they know we're not here as law enforcement.

We walk into town, and reach the square. It's definitely different from when I last came here. Some buildings look new, probably because of the rebuilding that had to be done after the war. When we step into the town's square there's something going on.

In front of the Justice Building, people are assembling what looks like a stage. Ryke nudges me to go check it out. We walk to the firs man we see helping.

"What's going on?" asks Ryke.

"We're assembling the stage," answers the man. "One of the candidates is coming tomorrow."

"Which one?" I ask.

The older man shrugs his shoulders. "Don't know." He walks off to the unassembled platform.

"Let's just get back to camp," I say to Ryke. He nods and we start making our way back.

**…**

Ryke and I reach the encampment and walk through paths to get to the large tent where the captains usually meet. A cluster of personnel stand outside, and I assume Gale is a part of it. I call out his name while we make our way to them.

He turns around and sees me. He keeps his face straight. "It's Captain Hawthorne," he reminds me.

"Gale, Captain Hawthorne," I say monotonously. "We have some information you'd like to know."

"In the square," begins Ryke. "They're setting up a stage. They say a candidate is arriving tomorrow and-"

"We know," Gale says. "We received the news moments ago."

"Well fine," I say. "Is it Rosalind?"

"We think so," he says. "It means we'll have to report ready early tomorrow. I hope you understand what your jobs are?"

"Yes, sir," answers Ryke.

"Good. You're both dismissed from your patrolling duties," he says plainly and then he goes back into the tent. A zipper seals the door as we're left standing outside.

"Well, we did our job," says Ryke. He turns and walks to the campfire.

I take the ring tucked under my vest and hold it between my fingers. This is where we'll be seeing Snow's spawn in the flesh.

**…**

But we will not be meeting her personally.

We are ordered to stay out of the square unless we are needed. The mayor of District 11 doesn't want to make the public apprehensive with the presence of a whole team of armed soldiers. Riots are not known to happen at these rallies, but what if it's today that Rosalind and her organization decide to cause a scene? I think we deserve a look at this _representative_, who in my knowledge is responsible for Enobaria's murder. Who also is out to rid us, because of an influence we didn't even ask for.

But Gale will not hear any it. He listens, but he does not take anything I say into consideration. This makes me even madder with him, but I might bear part fault.

Johnna is just as mad as I am. We're gathered in a building nearby, watching the rally on television. My team and another have been sitting in this warehouse for a long period of time. Peeta plays with the tags around his neck. I take out mine in boredom. And then it begins.

The screens buzz a bit until the square of District 11 comes into view. A closer angle of the stage appears, and then we see Rosalind walk up to the podium in a professional manner. A part of the crowd applauds in politeness.

The speech she's giving is pretty much what she says to all the districts, with only slight differences. I don't pay close attention to what she's saying, but try in my head to relate her to Snow. Is there anything about her that shows she's an evil dictator? She hides it pretty well, aside from her small hints in her speech about a more efficient and controlled government.

She finishes a clause and then I hear the sound of disapproval from the crowd. Not from everybody, but clearly some people don't like her. Rosalind's countenance flashes with a frown, and I can't keep from smirking. Peeta meets my gaze for a second.

She walks off the stage and it looks like she has her own team of security. They look like soldiers as well, but these guys are suspiciously dressed in what I saw Beetee's hit-man wearing in the surveillance of his attempted murder. As if they could not make it any more obvious that they were responsible for the conspiracy.

A few soldiers from my team refer to Gale for permission to go out, but he shakes his head.

Then on the television appears our current president, Paylor. She greets the crowd and then goes on to give an introduction of another running candidate, who is a native of District 11. The crowd applauds in compliance and a dark, older man walks onto the stage. He starts his introduction with a sincere smile to the audience.

"..I believe the less government the better!"

The candidate finishes his speech and the crowd cheers. He raises his arms up, palms open and beams at the audience. This guy is apparently is just as influential as Rosalind, and they seem to like him better.

Peeta puts a hand on my shoulder to tell me we're moving out. Gale guides the team out into square, so that we march on the outside of the crowd. The team spreads out around the crowd, so one of us surrounds the crowd every few feet. This leaves me close to the stage, with a clear view of Rosalind in the back.

She is not happy how the crowd is reacting to her opposing mate.

A uniformed man –who I assume is a part of their organization- goes next to her and leans in to speak in her ear. And something about her expression… I don't know. It looks ominous. It's like she has something plotted.

I scan the area around me for anything that doesn't look right. In the crowd. The windows. The roofs of the buildings. But I don't see anything. All I can do is wait in anticipation for something to reach my eyes before something bad happens. And I don't even know what I'm looking for.

And then there it is.

Right in my full view, but I spotted it too late.

They pull their trigger before I can pull mine.

The first gunshot ceases the cheers of the crowd into dead silence. The second shot results in the male candidate collapsing to the floor and screams of terror from the crowd. A friendly third gunshot takes out the gunman in the building, and then an unexpected fourth gunshot hits Rosalind, causing her to crumble to the floor. Complete confusion. All of this occurs within seconds.

After that there's a series of guns going off from our team, but I don't know if they pinpointed where the fourth shot came from. The crowd rushes out of the square, while soldiers guide them out like a stampede of animals.

My gun is still warm from when I shot the first gunman.

Reliably, Peeta has appeared next me. His lips form words asking if I'm okay, and I nod. It's still so loud with the screams from the crowd and the shouts from our force. Still standing nearby, Peeta guides citizens down an open path. In midst of it all I manage to see Rosalind being carried off stage by her security.

A team of medics appear out of nowhere and get to her side. Some others walk to where the District 11 candidate is laying and pull him onto a gurney.

I start walking in the opposite direction of the crowd, toward the stage to get closer. A family is asking me what's happening and I just tell them where to go. I walk forward, trying to get through a mob of people, and then a child pulls on my arm and tells me he's lost. I'm forced to abandon my motive and help this kid find his parents. It doesn't matter anyway, because Rosalind has already disappeared. Her security is all that's left, picking up after.

I curse in my head and then take the boy's hand.

"Come on. We'll find your parents," I reassure the boy.

I take a final look back at the stage before walking into the flow of the crowd. Rosalind has already gone, but something else grabs my attention.

A young woman takes something off the podium on stage. She takes what looks like a paper and puts it in her briefcase. She walks off stage and disappears behind the large screen. It's the sense of sudden recognition I get from the way she walks, the way she holds herself, but I only saw a flash of her face. She seems so familiar.

There's a flash in my memory, and I place her name with disbelief and confusion.

Prim?

I look back to the little boy and take him to a light post. "Stay here. I'll be right back," I say. The frightened boy agrees, and I run off into the direction where I saw my sister.

I jump the waist-high gate in front of the stage and walk behind the corner of a pillar hoping to see her in my line of vision. And there she is, briskly walking away with a group of the security dressed similarly to her. What if it's not her? Am I just acting on stupid impulses? I have to just find out. I call her name, to see if she'll look back.

"Prim!"

A second passes, and then only she turns back. She looks back at me with some sort of confusion and widen eyes. Is that recognition? Before I can react to it, she turns away and doesn't give a second glance. She conceals herself in the group of people and after that there's no trace of her. Obstacles will not allow me to go any further. I lose her.

**…**

_Two days later_

"You appear distressed."

I turn my eyes away from the window and look to the person who spoke. I didn't even hear him come in.

"Really?" I ask sarcastically. "That must be why I was told to come see you, since you are a psychiatrist, and psychiatrist deal with mentally distressed people."

A smirk flashes on his face for a second at my sarcasm, and then he regains his neutral expression. He takes a seat diagonal to my chair, and puts a notebook on his lap.

"Our last phone meeting was year and half ago, demonstrating how much you've improved when I first started seeing you. You say you are here only because your captain, Gale, set this up because of how you've been acting lately."

"For his own illogical reasons," I state.

"You've been acting distant according to your husband."

This is the first I've heard of anything about the way I've been acting lately from Peeta. "Distant? No, I've just been thinking a lot lately."

Dr. Aurelius scribbles something. "He mentioned one thing to me that he said may be the cause of this. He said you told him that you saw your sister two days ago."

_Prim?_

And then I'm conjuring an explanation, even though I believe I did. "… She resembled her, that's all."

"And you saw someone else who resembled somebody who is deceased. Back in District 13, is that correct?"

I sit back in my chair, my arms across my chest. "Yes."

"And she turned out be a spy, who succeeded in murdering someone."

I can figure out what kind of conclusion he has about me right now. This situation half makes sense and the rest is illogical and crazy. Half of it I can believe and the rest seem like the symptoms of me losing sanity

"It just appears that you have been dealing with a lot lately. My advice is only for you to regain composure. Maybe you shouldn't be working. I am not diagnosing anything, because it seems perfectly normal for you to be acting this way. What you can do now is find support and reliance on those close to you."

"Um, okay."

"You're condition is not worsening. What you are experiencing is the reality at what this situation puts you in. What needs to be done is how you control and work with your emotions."

"Right…"

Dr. Aurelius takes his notebook and puts it aside. "I will be seeing you in a week's time. Do you have any questions or concerns?"

"Uh no, I'll just getting back then," I say. I get up to leave, and Dr. Aurelius gets up. He opens the tent flap to allow me to walk through. I feel I should say something, but I don't know what, so I keep silent. I walk back to the far side of the encampment, where my tent is. All I want to do is sleep now.

* * *

[Primrose]

"_You did very well, Primrose."_

This praise is what I get for completing my first assignment. It seems childish, like I should be given praise after I do something right. Sure, I am proud for accomplishing a task, but it's not important to me. Not much as finding out about _her_.

And I know I want answers, but nobody will give them to me, including Rosalind. She only gives me bits of information, and now I am confused as if to trust her with all my questions about Katniss. My odd dreams are the only source of information I get of her. They are dreams, but the feel like memories.

Rosalind is currently staying at the hospital in the headquarters. After District 11, we were all brought here. But soon she will go back to her schedule again, which leaves me only a small chance to talk her. Find out any little thing about who I was before.

I am free to walk around the headquarters on my own since they see me as an active Revival. I find my way to the hospital and locate Rosalind's room number. I tap on the door before entering, and I see Rosalind on a laptop. She is talking to the Revival that I met the other day. He was in on the plan in District 11.

He's like me. I mean, he has full emotions and intelligence as I do, like all active Revivals. Add blonde hair and that is where the similarities end. He is tall and built, and has green eyes. He looks about twenty-something. He is monstrous and one of the most experienced Revivals, revived long before I was. He is put responsible in the organization's most important missions.

"Primrose." Rosalind sees me in the doorway.

"Is this an inconvenient time? I didn't know you were with someone," I say.

"No, Cato and I just finished our meeting. Please come in," she says while she types onto her laptop.

The tall, young man leaves the room without acknowledging me, and so I go to take his place in the chair.

"How is your side?" I ask.

"Almost completely healed," she says plainly. "Cato and I were just discussing how he could have improved his shot, but at least he did not kill me."

"I would say it was completely believable. I don't think anybody would question that it was another conspirator against you."

"Nice to hear. I did just take a bullet to convince those citizens that I am not a murder."

"But you're not a murder," I say.

"No, I'm not," she says tensely, meeting my eyes for the first time in this visit.

The silence that follows is so full of tension that you could slice it with a knife. Rosalind puts aside the laptop on a near nightstand. "What was it that you wanted?"

She looks frustrated, and I want to leave her to rest, but I know I may not get another chance soon. "I want to know what happens after this."

I hear her mutter something under her breath, like how I ask this all the time. "Well now that we've gotten the word out, we need to get rid of the competition."

"Isn't that what we did in District 11?" I ask.

"That was some of it," she says. "We still have a few important people we need to persuade onto our side."

I think back to the rally, and I wonder how easily it will be to do that. "And what if they can't be persuaded?"

"That's why we have you, Sweetie." Her lips curve upward slightly. " But if that doesn't work, we just get another of your fellow Revivals to take care of them."

"Of course," I say in compliance. "And after that… you'll become president."

"That's what we're aiming for," she says plainly.

* * *

**I hope you guys didn't think I just suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth. I will not allow so much time pass to update again. School stuff taking over my time, mostly. This chapter wasn't as smooth, but once I start again it will get better.  
**

**So I have a good idea where this is going. I got an outline and everything! You might look at this like a double story, w/ Prim and Katniss own conflicts and stuff but it does merge. Katniss just saw a peek of her sister for the first time!  
**

**Thanks for reading,  
**

**-cheezebuns  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Katniss? Are you awake?"

Peeta shakes my shoulder. Now I am. I slowly turn on my back to face him. He's looking toward the opening of our tent, which is showing it's still dark out. When he doesn't say anything, I begin to worry, my thoughts running.

"What is it?" I ask.

His eyes don't leave the opening. "I heard some footsteps and shouts. I think something is going on," he says. "I'm just going to go check it out."

He rises, and gets out of his sleeping bag. I get out of mine. "I'm coming too," I say.

He nods, and opens the flap for me to walk through. When we get outside, one of the flood lights flashes on, and we can see clearly some men in uniform walking across the camp in different directions. Johanna tent opens up and she steps outside, her short hair a mess.

"What's up?" she asks.

"We don't know," I answer.

"Let's go this way," Peeta suggests moving his head in the direction of the captains' meeting tent.

In the confusion of the disorganized shouts, I hear Gale's. I see him barely, but I reach my hand forward and find him in the dusk.

He turns toward me, and it's like he's forgotten he was ignoring me. No straight face.

"Gale, what's going on?" I ask hesitantly.

"He's alive," he answers. "The first gunman that you managed to shoot has just gained consciousness. They're going to start questioning him for answers." His shoulder moves from my hand and he walks away.

Oh right. The day District 11's town square went into chaos, I managed to shoot someone from the organization hiding out in a nearby building. I thought I had killed him, but turns out he was still alive when some of the members of our team when to go check it out. It was nobody I recognized, which I was afraid of, considering people of this organization have turned out looking exactly like dead people I knew. Then there was that girl that ran away from me. She just so happen to resemble my sister.

I'm really tired of all this confusion.

Peeta, Johanna and I figure to go back to the tents. We will only be getting in people's way.

...

Later that morning, the soldiers are told to pack up. We'll be leaving District 11, and heading back to District 2. We're not needed here anymore, since Rosalind will move on to other districts.

I'm not sure if I, along with Peeta and Johanna, will be assigned to keep going on assignments, considering the candidate from Eleven was just killed. General Verges called Gale last night, making sure the three of us were on the train back to Two. I don't understand what this means for us.

Peeta, Johanna, and I finish packing our stuff, get breakfast, and walk through town to the train station. We bring along our hooded jackets, although it's early morning and there won't be any civilians to recognize us. We walk a little outside the train station, where the cargo is being loaded onto the cars. We look around for the freight train that will be taking us back to District 2. Peeta takes my hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

"At least we'll get to see Haymitch," he says.

I smile lopsidedly, and then I see a familiar dark-haired captain. "What's Gale doing here?"

Peeta looks in the same direction, and Johanna confirms it.

"What are you doing here, Capt?" Johanna shouts while he's a distance away.

He speeds up and doesn't answer until he reaches us. "Apparently, I got some business I need to attend in District 2, so I'll be accompanying you guys." The train station's whistle sounds, causing Johanna to cover her ears. "We better get going then." Gale tosses the strap of his bag over his shoulder and walks in the direction on the train.

"He's acting strange," I say a bit above a whisper.

"He seems normal," Peeta says.

"That's what strange," I reply.

Throwing his bag into the storage car, he turns back and waves us over. Johanna walks ahead us, and Peeta and I follow. As I enter the train before him, he's not avoiding my look anymore. "Easy, Catnip," he says as I board. No, he not acting like Captain Gale anymore, but I don't know quite yet if he ready for reconciling. I don't know if I'm ready to forgive and forget.

The train car is full of crates, piled high, almost touching the ceiling of the car. Peeta finds some room on the floor, and sits down. I sit next to him, and I see Gale take a spot next to Johanna a little farther from us. The train rattles a bit as we start, a whistle blows, and we move out of the station.

A few hours into the ride, I fall asleep on Peeta's shoulder. Somewhere between sleep and wakefulness I see the girl running away from me, while I try to catch up. Blonde hair, blue eyes, the way she walked… I wake up a bit later, when I hear voices and come to realize one of them is Gale's. I don't open my eyes, but I listen to hear who he's talking to.

"… what is it?" asks Johanna.

"It's… better if we wait until we get there," replies Gale in a low voice.

"This is why you're coming with us?" she asks.

"Part of the reason," he says.

Johanna huffs in frustration. "It's her that can't know, so why won't you tell me? I can keep a secret."

"Sure, I would tell you, but it's not safe here. People could be listening."

I'm almost impulsively urged to open my eyes, but I shut them tighter. I try to listen for more, but unfortunately Johanna appears to be satisfied with his answer.

"You're almost as stubborn as she is," Johanna says.

Gale chuckles. "No, not that much."

The train stops in a nearby district, allowing us to get off and stretch a bit. It's late morning, around ten. It's cold outside, but exceptionally sunny. I walk along the track beside the cars to loosen up, and I hear Peeta coming without having to look back. I stop until he's walking beside me.

"Gale knows something," I say. "He and Johanna were talking on the way here, something about when we get back to District 2."

"I heard," he says. "Just bits, so I couldn't figure it out. Maybe we should ask Johanna, but she probably wouldn't know any more than we do."

"Yeah. I think-"

"_Hey guys!" _Johanna calls, waving us back to our train car. We turn around and oddly find Gale running our way with a paper bag.

"They're apples," he states simply. He tosses one to each us. "Maybe a thank you?"

"Uh thanks," I say, looking at the apple sitting in my hand.

"No problem," he answers. We walk back to the car, and I'm about to take a bite of my apple, when a sickening aroma reaches me, and I almost gag.

"What's that smell?" I ask, putting a hand over my mouth.

Gale turns around. Peeta looks around us and bends down to my height. "What's wrong?"

It gets stronger, so I stop walking. My stomach lurches, I bend over, and the food I have inside me comes out. Peeta puts a hand to my back, and examines the apple.

"It's not the fruit. It's the smell," Gale says.

Once I think I have finished, I stand up straight. My throat is burning, and Peeta continues to rub my back. "Roses," I say. "I smell some from here."

Gale has a confused look, but Peeta understands what roses mean to me, and how I feel about their aroma. Looking around, I spy it a few feet away. Along the platform is a bush of the evil things, almost in full bloom.

"Let's get back to the car," Peeta tells Gale.

We get back into the car, and for the rest of the ride back to Two, I feel sick. I don't want to eat the food Peeta offers me, but I do manage to get some water down.

"We're almost there," says Gale looking through the cracks of the wall to outside.

Another hour and we arrive in District 2. The three of us pull our hoods on, while Gale leads us back to the Nut. My sickness has lessened, so I blame it on the roses. Gale tells us we're being called for a meeting with Verges, who's leading the investigation of the organization. News for us, I think.

The three of us follow Gale to the conference room. He opens the door and allows the others to go ahead. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yeah. I'm still a little nauseous, but I'll be fine." He actually looks concerned. He nods and closes the door behind us. I take a seat next to Peeta, but Gale stands leaning against the wall.

"We found out quite a great amount of information while you were gone," says Verges. She doesn't appear ecstatic as Plutarch would, but maybe this news isn't good. "The organization member that Ms. Everdeen managed to wound has helped us tie what we know from our spies with what has been happening recently. It looks like it explains a lot of what Ms. Everdeen has been experiencing as well."

"Explain what?" I ask.

"The dead tribute you saw in District 13, and the mention of seeing someone in the organization that looked like your sister," she says.

"H-how did you know about that?"

"Captain Hawthorn has been updating me with what you three have been going through in District 11. He came to me with the request to have Dr. Aurelius see you."

_Of course_. He was our baby-sitter. He doesn't give me eye contact when I turn my head.

"We understand what the organization's lab has been up to. They're not just making soldiers that resemble dead tributes." She says all humor gone. "They've actually brought them back to life."

"What the hell?" exclaims Johanna. It takes me a second thought to realize what was said. Johanna sits up fully attentive. "That red-head that Katniss ran into… didn't you say she was a genetically made clone or something?"

"That's what we thought, but apparently their research and science is more advanced than we thought. The large team of labs working inside the Hunger Games possessed her DNA, and as you know, these labs are now under the organization's control. They had access to her genetic material. They kept her body when they collected it after she died in the Games."

"Sick bastards," Johanna says through clenched teeth.

"Any remains of past tributes, or DNA can be regenerated into a whole new person. About every tribute that died in the Hunger Games can be regenerated again, as long as they have their DNA."

_Every one of those children who died can be brought back to this hell just like that._

"So, if they wanted to… they could bring back all those who died in our Games?" Peeta asks anxiously.

Verges nods.

_Foxface, Thresh, Marvel, Glimmer, Cato, Clove… Rue. _This is so wrong on so many levels. They're playing god, in the most despicable way. Dying in Games doesn't save you from them. They will continue to use you.

Johanna suddenly pounds the table with her fists, causing me flinch. She stands from her chair, about to storm out, when Gale rushes over and holds onto her shoulders.

"Calm down," he says sternly. "It's alright..."

She wants to shout at him, but she restraints herself, tightening lips. She stops fighting him, and he releases her. She turns away from him and leans against the wall, crossing her arms and looking toward the ground.

At that moment, I notice Peeta's hand is squeezing mine. It's not the usual squeeze of reassurance, but of fear. He's tense. We're both afraid of what this means.

"Do they remember…?" I ask in a low voice. She looks uncertainly at me. "Do they remember what happened to them?!" My voice is a loud, broken shout.

"We don't believe so. It would be difficult for them to recall how they died, and what recently happened before then," she says in monotone.

I sit against the back of my chair, with realization that they can all be used as brain-washed soldiers, fighting without thought of their lives.

"Wait!" I say. "You mentioned my sister. If I saw her in District 11, how can that be her when she didn't die in the arena?"

Verges looks sympathetically at me, as she tries to come up the words to my question. "She could be the exception. They might have found a trace of her DNA in the Capitol."

The idea is too much to bear. They couldn't get my sister. She burned to death. There's no way. It's impossible, but I thought bringing back the dead was impossible too.

Something catches in my throat, and I can't speak. Peeta's arms come around me, but I can't find any consolation. I want to pound the table with my fists, and scream. But I just sit there. I turn my head to see Gale, and he's looking at me apologetically.

_It was my fault._

But it isn't his fault they have my sister. It never was, and it's not mine either. It's _theirs_.

[Primrose]

Outside, on the roof of the Headquarters, is where I find him sitting on a bench. I've seen disappear through the stair well a few time, always wondering where he goes. As I step outside, I understand why he comes here. It's calm and solitary. I already conclude that we're not really supposed to be out here, but it doesn't bother me anymore to break their rules. It doesn't bother him, and he's their best assassin.

His back is toward me, his eyes looking out at the tall decorated Capitol buildings that are beginning to age. I begin to reconsider my idea of coming up here. I only take a few steps forward when I catch his attention.

"Who's there?" I stop mid step. He rises quickly and turns around. His eye brows go up and then furrow in contempt. "Are you going to tell them I'm up here, girl?"

"No, I-"

"What do you want?" he asks his voice full of acid. He's very harsh, but I don't let him see he intimidates me.

"Your name is Cato?"

He continues you eye me, but the acid in his tone has lessened. "Yes, why are you here?"

"I wanted to know…" I hesitate, and I see the pause is getting on his nerves. "I wanted to know... why do you do it?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Do you… do these assignments for them… or for you?"

"Are you setting me up for a confession?"

"No, I just-"

"Listen girl, just because we're alike doesn't mean I want to talk to you, alright?" He passes me without a glance and goes toward the entrance to the stair well.

"Wait!" I call. He doesn't stop. I begin to feel disappointment in myself, and begin talk forcibly. "I hate what I'm doing for them. They're lying to me, and I can't figure out who I was before…"

He stops for a second, but doesn't look back. "I can't help you. I can't figure out mine either, kid." He opens the door and disappears.

The following day, I go through my usual schedule and find the perfect time for me to go up to the roof, without being caught. Rosalind doesn't make it a priority to come visit anymore, but I don't really care all that much. I just want to know what this other Revival knows. He doesn't want me there, I understand, but he's my only option in finding out more about this organization and Rosalind. I won't give up easily.

I climb the stairs to the door to outside. When I step outside, I see him sitting on the ledge, sharpening what looks like a knife.

"Why are you here?" he asks without turning around.

I step closer. "There's a lot that they're hiding from us, and I just though you want to know just as much as I do."

"You'll get yourself terminated, thinking like that," he says in effort to shut down conversation.

Terminated. The word must be the greatest threat they have against you here, but I don't care for me that much. "Have you thought about it?" I ask.

He doesn't answer for a moment. "I keep those things to myself. That's why I'm still here."

The sound of his sharpening continues again. "Have you seen others like us?"

"I've trained with them," he says. "Most of them are scattered all over Panem."

"Did any of them remember… their before?"

"No," he says flatly. The reflection of his eyes on the blade shows something besides the lack of interest. He might be thinking of his existence before he died.

"I have dreams of it," I say softly. "I have dreams of her. This girl I knew…"

"What are you talking about?"

"She was someone I knew before, and I think my mission, my purpose has something do with her. I'm going to be used to find her, although I don't know how."

"How do you know this?" he asks.

"I hear Rosalind talk about me," I reply. "This girl and I were related in some way, according to my dreams."

"They're dreams," he says indifferently.

"I know that!" I retort," but they're all I have." He has stopped sharpening his blade and looks me in eyes now, almost like he reevaluating me. I turn away and look at the buildings ahead. "They're the only things I have left for finding out who I was," I say more softly. My hands squeeze into fists. "Rosalind is going to hurt her somehow, I think. She's going to use me to hurt her."

A silence stays for quite a while, and then it's Cato who speaks.

"Do you know her name?"

"Yes," I say. "It's Katniss."

The expression on his face changes drastically, and then goes back. He stays looking out toward the buildings. Was that recognition? "Did you know her before too?"

"No, I didn't," he replies quickly. "Let's go. We've been out here long enough."

Cato walks to the stair well, and leaves me behind. He's gone down the stairs and into the hallways before I can ask anymore.

I'm always left with more questions than answers.

* * *

**I apologize if you had to skim read the previous chapter, because I understand it would be difficult to recall something read weeks ago. **

**Katniss fully understands the situation with her sister and knows she exist, while Prim has known Katniss exist, but doesn't know her. Dun Dun Dunnn. There may have been hints to Cato's association with Katniss, so you might already know... **

**As you know roses and Katniss don't mix, remember that. Also! Gale felt sorry for her, so this will bring them to a less conflicted relationship. Sorry no K and P romance, but there's a whole lot of drama-y stuff going on in the next chapter.  
**

**Thank you for sticking with this, and your lovely favorites and reviews. They mean so much!  
**

**-cheezebuns  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**AHHH, it has been forever. I apologize for the wait... and the itty bitty grammatical errors you may encounter when you read this. I wanted to upload this as soon as I finished. And if you have to skim the previous chapter to understand this... or maybe you have really good memory... sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 10

It's been two days since General Verges dropped the bomb on us, and since then, Peeta and I can't sleep. It seems like nights before our Victory Tour all over again, although I'm not alone anymore. We've been given non-habit forming sleep aids, but they don't seem to work. My mind set is only programmed to think about Prim, and the hopelessness idea of rescuing her away from the organization.

This new Prim won't remember me, according to Verges, so would it be Prim that I'm saving or just her shell? Even if there's a small trace of familiarity of me or her former life, I'm going to get her out of there. I swear it.

The idea that frightens me though, is who else could they be bringing back? We lost a lot of people from our Games, and there's the uncountable number of deaths from the Rebellion. If they found Prim's DNA, what could stop them from bring back to life their whole army and use them to destroy the Government along with everything with it?

The morning to follow, I find the space behind me empty. I rise up slowly, my head slow and achy from lack of sleep, my stomach queasy. The sun barely creeps in through the small window of our rented room. I'm guessing it's about six in the morning. I slip on the boots next the bed and grab the jacket hung on a chair.

It's not really like Peeta to leave without telling me, so I begin worry. The bathroom is empty, so I steer toward the front door and open just halfway until I hit something.

"Ouch."

"Peeta, is that you?" I ask.

"Uh yeah. Just came out for some air," he says tiredly.

We step back into the room and Peeta goes straight toward the cabinets on the side of the room. He takes out a mug and fills the electric kettle with water from the sink. He turns it on and plays with the tea bag in his mug, without a single word.

"Did you sleep at all?" I ask.

Peeta sense the tone of my voice and looks back to face me.

"A little, but it was more than the night before," he reassures.

The bags ever present bags under his eyes are there, and his brows furrow, making him look anxious. "You had a nightmare didn't you?"

He shrugs, brushes hand in his messy waves of bed-head. I don't ask him to tell me what it's about, because I know if he wants to talk about it he will. He doesn't say anything, and continues to stall by asking if I want tea and grabbing a mug for me. He fills it with halfway boiled water and hands me mine. He says nothings and goes to sit on the edge of the bed. I take a sit next to him and take a sip of water. It stays quiet for a while.

"You know, I was the only one in my family, besides my father who liked to drink their tea plain," he says. "I guess you could say that we both appreciated tea the way it was. Sugar and honey drown out the real flavor." The ends of his lips curl up a bit and he takes a sip.

Empathetic me kicks in and I slowly reach for his free hand. As much as me finding out about Prim hurt, Peeta has his own loved ones who died. He turns his smile to me, and squeezes my hand back. After minutes of silence, I find the bit of words coming out of my mouth. " I like it this way too."

Although, something in this tea isn't sitting right with my stomach and I feel nauseous. I take a smell of the tea, but it's not the smell that's making me sick. A wave of nausea hits me.

"Hold this, will you?" I ask. Peeta takes the mug and watches confused as I rush to the bathroom. I flip the top and begin to throw up into the bowl of the toilet. I heave again and the contents burns my throat. I hear Peeta come to the bathroom, my face still in in the bowl.

"Katniss, are you alright?" He stoops down to my level and puts a hand on my back.

"I'm okay," I say as I wipe my mouth with my hand. I slowly stand up with him, and I begin to feel light-headed. "When are we supposed to go to meet up them?" I ask.

"At seven," Peeta replies.

"We better get ready then."

I walk away to find my other clothes, without another look at his face of his obvious concern.

...

The cool mountain air, wipes away all traces of sickness from my stomach. I take a deep breath for good measure. Peeta and I walk to the Nut, just like we do every day since we back to District 2. We'll go see Verges again, and then go to training again. We'll be doing this for a while, since I don't think we'll be going on anymore missions, because the little event in District 11.

I'm not happy with this. How am I supposed to find Prim if I'm stuck here?

"Morning," greets Verges as we enter her office.

Johanna sees us come in and raises a hand from her crossed arms to greet us.

I spot Haymitch with his back toward us. "What? No good morning?"

"Eh," says Haymitch. "A month's time isn't too long."

"He's just not in the mood because his favorite person is here," says Johanna.

Peeta and I raise eyebrows at the same time. "Who's you're favorite person, Haymitch?" Peeta asks.

Johanna answers for him. "Effie Trinket."

And speak of the devil, (I don't mean literally) Effie enters the room with all of her vivid glory. No one could be so out of placed in this mess.

"Goodness! You two have grown so much since… I don't recall the last time I saw you!" Her arms come around us both. She smiles with such joy, I almost feel like smiling. Almost, seeing this different looking Effie…

She's not completely dressed like I usually see her. Actually, if it wasn't for her high voice and peppy attitude, I wouldn't have recognized her. Her outfit in color is a bit toned-down, and her hair isn't exactly pink and frou-frou. Her big blonde hair is decorated with only a single small hat and her make-up and has toned down pretty drastically.

"Hi… Effie," Peeta says. "What are you doing here?"

She releases us. "I've been in the Capitol," she says. "Finding out some information for our general here," she says referring to Verges.

We both look back at her questionably. "You're a spy?"

"Absolutely, but not in the way you think. I'm not inside the organization's headquarters. I find out what is going on when they're out and about. I've been following Rosalind's tour."

"Wait a sec," Johanna says. "Were you there in District 11?"

"Yes dear, I was there."

My mind comes to the moment I saw my sister. I about to open my mouth to ask her what she knows about her, but I shut my mouth and think about what I'm doing. Am I risking something here, asking in front of Verges?

"Effie, do you know anything about the team she takes with her to the districts? You know, the uniformed group? A girl in that team, she-"

"Calm down, girl. You're interrogating her," says Haymitch.

"Now you mustn't ramble, Katniss. Please, ask me what you want to know."

I feel the eyes on me, and it nerve racking, but my want to know about my sister cuts through that. "Did you see my sister that day when Rosalind was shot?"

Effie's smile doesn't completely vanish, but it dims. "I know who you are referring to, and I can tell you that I only started seeing her when Rosalind was in District 11. She looks quite older now, doesn't she?"

"Yes… she does," I say barely audible.

Verges calls attention of everyone to herself. "What we'll be concentrating on at the moment is finding out more about the Organization's labs and promoting Paylor's campaign."

"She's running?" Peeta asks.

"She sort of has to, since the other guy was killed," Johanna says.

"Back to what we needed to say…" Verges resumes, "there's a few months until actual elections. What our goal is right now, is finding a way to prevent their regeneration of those who died. We have our multiple spies knowledgeable of where the labs are, and we think we will attempt to infiltrate them with our own squad of soldiers."

"But they'll be fully prepared for us, so we need a distraction," finishes Haymitch.

I do not like the sound of this. Sounds too familiar. "What kind of distraction?" I ask.

"We don't know yet. We'll have to get their attention somehow."

"We have our Commanding General on board with this as long as we find a way to infiltrate their headquarters without causing a full on war."

"That seems a bit imminent," says Johanna.

"We're going to try and we're going to have to destroy this from the inside," says Verges. "Before this blows up and we can't stop it."

...

Effie departs when we have to go to training. I hang around next Johanna at the range. It looks like she was born not to just wield an axe, but a gun too. Reload after reload, and our finger begin to feel sore. Johanna could keep going if she wanted to, but we both decide to take a break.

Peeta is with Haymitch on the other side of the room. I begin to wonder if Haymitch knows more than we do about this whole Revival thing. If Peeta is talking about his dream with him.

"Cousin, three o'clock," says Johanna.

I look in her direction and see Gale in a similar uniform to ours. I hadn't seen him since we got back from District 2. There are things I've been wanting to tell him since I found out about my sister. By look on his face, I guess he has something to say too.

"Johanna, Katniss," he greets. I see Johanna smirk, and by Gale's smile back I would think there was something going on between them two. He looks back at me like their exchange didn't happen. "Katniss, I need to talk you," he says.

"I'll go check out the guys' training over there," says Johanna. She lifts up and walks toward Peeta and Haymitch.

"Want to take a walk?" Gale asks.

I contemplate. There has to be something said, but the idea of talking things out with Gale sounds like something I going have a hard time doing. Even though, I will have to do this if I want to change things with him. Having him on my side would be an asset. Peeta wouldn't think anything suspicious if I went to talk with him, just because I told him about my link with him to Prim. "Sure."

We step outside of Training into an empty hall. We continue to walk in silence, and I'm the first to talk.

"You knew about Prim on the way to District 2," I state.

"Yes, I did," he answers. He watches me to see any sign of anger or of something. I guess that is what anyone would expect knowing me. But I'm not angry.

"Did you know about this when I said I saw her? Dr. Aurelius said you suggested my therapy."

"No, I didn't. We found out a lot when we questioned the soldier we caught in District 11."

"I'm not crazy, then," I say simply.

"No, you're not," he says. He looks down the opposite way to make sure this stays a private conversation. "Listen, I'm sorry about what's happening now. If-"

"It's not your fault, Gale." I say tiredly. He stops walking, as to understand what I'm saying. "It's not your fault what's happening now, and… it's not your fault what happened three years ago."

"Do you mean what you're saying? You could still have the grudge against me."

"I still have a bit, but you know, that will go away in time. I realize you were just doing what you thought was right… Coin was the one…"

"I get it," he says.

About a minute goes by without speaking, and I start to think we're done. I've reconciled with him as much as I wanted to. But a question comes to my mind.

"Gale," He looks at me. "What' going on between you and Johanna?"

A smirk flashes across his face and then it's straight again. "Nothing, Katniss."

"She's a bit older than you, isn't she?"

"Shut up, Katniss," he says with a returning smirk.

I'm about to release a laugh, when a cramp forms in my lower abdomen. It's so sudden a gasp noise comes out and I hinge.

"Katniss, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I think it's just a cramp or something."

"Uh-huh…" He says. "Does this have anything to do with being sick?"

"I don't know. Well I've been feeling odd. I threw up this morning."

"No roses?"

"No," I say.

Gale furrows his brow in concentration, "Nausea, cramping… Katniss, I'm no expert, and I don't want to scare you, but…"

I already know what he's going to say. "No. There's no way that can happen." I state, sure of myself.

"If you're sure…" he says.

But the thought of the possibility makes me more and more nervous.

I sink to floor, rubbing my back against the wall. Gale looks worriedly at me, not sure what to do. My hands are shaking.

No, I can't be pregnant.

...

[Primrose]

"_There so pretty, aren't they?" I ask._

"_Sure, they're nice…" she says._

"_If I could buy one, I may not even eat it. It would be just to look at it."_

_She smiles and looks through the bakery window with me. I see the smile slowly disappear in our reflection, and I squint my eyes to see through the glass. A boy behind the counter is looking at us._

"_We should get going, Prim. Mother is probably wondering why we're taking so long."_

"_Katniss?"_

"_Come on Little Duck, we got to go," she says lightly as a distraction._

"_Okay Katniss," I say as I hold her hand and we walk back to Seam. _

The boy.

I don't know who he is but people I don't recognize pop up in these Katniss dreams all of the time. It just so happens though that this boy popped up a few times. My dreams never reveal his name. I just know he's tied to Katniss somehow. Friends. Enemies. I don't know.

Rosalind is in meetings most of the time, leaving my afternoons after training free. I usually find Cato. I know he doesn't like me too much personally, but we do have this sort of alliance. We share knowledge of what we know about the organization, and any flashbacks or stuff they we have about our past. Some days he completely shuts me out, and tells me he doesn't want to speak to me. I think he has really bad days or tantrums, so I leave him alone. The following day he is willing to talk to me.

One day in training, I am working on my archery and see Cato swinging a sword at the practice dummy. We try not to associate in training or where there are doctors or trainers. Cato says it is safer this way. Nobody will suspect us as conspirators.

The doors of the training room open and a few trainers and a line of young adults and older teenagers walk in. They are all dressed in the same thing I am in, and by the looks of their body language, these are not just mute, emotionless Revivals. I look to Cato again, and see that he is thinking the same thing.

I try not to appear interested in the new group and pretend to load my bow, because the others have not even glanced at the new group. Well, because they, themselves, are the zombie kind.

The newly arrived trainers speak in a demanding tone to the new Revivals. After, they disperse to different exercising equipment and begin training without missing a beat. A few take bows and shoot at the range beside me, but they do not acknowledge me. They are very focused on their training, and almost seem like the zombie-like Revivals anyway.

The next day of training is the same thing. I haven't heard one normal sentence come from these new Revivals, but I am certain they are not mute. I almost want to test them, although Revivals do not usually confront each other. I am certain that introducing myself to one of them will not work. It didn't work the first time I tried.

I take a bow from the range. It's is funny how it brings small flashbacks when I'm at the range. I stand with my practice arrows and bow beside a Revival that looks about my age, but different with her dark complexion and curly hair. I shoot a few arrows too look normal. To look like I'm not planning anything. I think that shoot at her target will get her attention, so I shoot one at her target. She acknowledges it, presses a button for a mechanical arm to move it out of her way, and continues to shoot.

It didn't work. She didn't acknowledge me at all. So I continue to shoot arrows in her way. She ignores me multiple times, having to stop practicing and remove the arrow. I begin to wonder if she even has emotions.

I shoot my last arrow in the bunch, and this time she turns to me, clearly irritated.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

It worked.

"You have your own target," she says trying to stay leveled.

"I'm sorry," I say sincerely. "I won't shoot anymore arrows in your way."

"…okay," she says. "I'm not shooting at yours, although I should since you've been taking my target."

"Sounds fair. I won't do it again."

"Okay," she says simply, and goes back to practicing. I leave the archery range with a small smile on my face. Now I will have a reason to speak to her.

That evening on the roof, I speak to Cato about my encounter with dark-haired girl. He doesn't smile like I do when I tell him story, but he never does anyway. Talking between other Revivals can lead to possible alliances. Like what Cato and I have.

"I know some of them," he says.

"You know some of the Revivals?" It comes to mind that he did tell me he met others. They had all been scattered for different missions at different bases or undercover.

"Oddly, the girl you talked to and a few others."

I stand up from sitting on the ledge. "They must remember you right?"

"Probably, but what can that do?"

"We can build alliances," I say almost excited.

He looks at me oddly. "We don't even know why they are here. Why would they all be gathered here? The organization is planning something with all of them here We don't know what that is."

"Well… maybe they know. And if they talk to us maybe we can find out. This could get us closer to finding out who we all really are."

Cato stays silent, continuing to sharpen his knife that he always has with him. "Is that your plan?" he says almost like a joke.

"Better than the nothing you came up with," I say.

He scowls at me, and his sharpening becomes more pronounced. "We'll go with your plan, but remember… the trainers, the doctors, Rosalind… they could be watching us."

"Right, I haven't forgotten," I say.

"Good," he says. He gets up and makes his usual abrupt departure back down stairs.

...

The following day in training when the trainers are concentrated on the weightlifting, I go straight up to the girl with from the day before. She looks at me cautiously as I approach. I almost want smile at how funny it seems.

"I just wanted to apologize again for before," I say making sure not to be too loud.

"It's alright," she says.

"What is your name?" I ask.

She looks at me warily again. "Number 1123," she says.

"I mean your worded _name_. You have one don't you?" I ask politely.

She nods. "It's Rue."

"Hi Rue, I'm Number 1216, also called Prim."

Her mouth turns to a subtle smile. "Hello Prim."

* * *

**I hope that was worth the wait. I appreciate your patience, and each little review that you have sent me, I take them to heart 3 Let me know if find things wrong, confusing, or... odd. It helps the writing:)**

**-cheezebuns**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Katniss?"

I'm still sitting on the cold tile floor of an empty hallway only occupied by Gale and the nervous mess I have become. I rest my head in my arms on my knees and don't look up to acknowledge him. Nope, I can't bear to look at his face of disappointment and concern for me, if only in my imagination. It will only add to my own disappointment.

"Katniss, you need to take a test. Find out for sure," he says in a stern but consoling way.

"I don't want to," I say into my arms. I don't want to know for sure. I just want to spend these last few moments of ignorance in peace.

"You need to," he says in the same concerned tone. "Maybe you're not pregnant. You could just be ill. We need to find out for sure so we can take care of it."

I lift my head slightly to find him squatting next to me. "Take care of it?" My voice comes out like a child's.

"I mean, if you're ill, you need medicine. But if you're… pregnant, then you have to make a plan of what you're going to do."

I can tell this odd for him to be talking about this with me, and it's no hike in the forest for me either. This scares me more than anything right now, and if feels like I can't even make the first move to face it. It's like being told to swim across and ocean when you have hydrophobia. I can swim, but I cannot have a baby.

"Katniss," he says more sternly. "Get up." I don't want to move, but Gale gives me his hand and shakes it when I don't take it. "Let me take you to get the test. We need to know for sure."

I lift my head. "Fine," I say, fear in my voice. I look straight into his eyes with all seriousness. "But you can't tell him. He can't know."

"Who, Peeta?" Gale asks and I nod my head. Gale gets that look when he's contemplating. He turns away from me to think and then looks back at me. "I won't say anything," he says softly," but you will have to, I mean if you are…"

"Okay," I say. I will feel a bit better if I can just figure this out on my own right now. I don't want to get Peeta involved unless I need to.

I take Gale's hand and he helps me up. As we walk to the Nut's hospital division, I realize this is most I've talked to him in years. How wonderful for our first real conversation to be about the possibility of me being knocked-up and right in a middle of nationwide mess.

When we reach the reception desk, Gale signs me in. He hands me a clip board with a sheet on it. "Fill this out, give it to this lady here, and they'll call you when the doctor's ready. I'm heading back to training and I'll tell Peeta that Vereges wanted you to help her with something."

"Alright," I say. "Thank you." Gale nods and walks away back to training.

I sit in plastic chair in the waiting area, rubbing my wedding ring nervously. I know Peeta should be here with me. It feels so wrong for him not to be, but I don't want him to know if it is uncertain. This could all possibly just a misinterpretation of symptoms.

But what if it's not?

A woman in normal clothing comes into reception area. A little boy, about four, hurries in after. What catches my attention is that she's not a soldier, clearly from her clothes, and she can't possibly take her child to the doctor here, since there is no pediatric in the Nut's hospital.

The little boy with green eyes and blonde hair spots me and looks at me with a tilted head. Why is he looking at me? Why do I not blend in with the background? Then I realize I must look as nervous and afraid as I feel. The boy continues to watch me, and it is making me feel weird.

_What?_ I mouth. The boy shrugs, and guess when he sees my confused look he giggles. I look to the mother, but her attention is still with the receptionist. He giggles even more, and I'm seriously hoping he won't drive his mother's attention to me. I rather just not be noticed right now. I hold my finger to my lips in a shushing motion, and oddly the boy complies by putting a finger to his lips. He stops laughing, but still continues to watch me.

Finally, the mother stops talking to the receptionist and grabs the little boy's hand. They walk away into one of the hallways. I let out a long sigh and let the ring fall in my palm. Turn in the clipboard and go back to my seat. It's funny how he sort of reminded me of Annie's little boy, Finn.

Then I go back to the day Peeta and I visited her in District 13. Peeta was just so at ease with Finn, which is no surprise with how naturally he talks to others. But he seemed so sincerely happy playing Finn. He had that glint in his eye that I see once in a while.

"_He must be good with kids," Annie says. "When this is all over, I'm sure he'll make a wonderful father."_

No doubt… _but this is not about giving Peeta a child_, I tell myself. It's surviva,l and this is no time for having children. By the looks of it, it probably never will be. They'll never be safe. They'll always be in danger and I could not live with myself if I failed to protect them. No, it's better not bringing another life into this world while risking it being suddenly taken away.

But I may not have a choice right now.

"Katniss," calls the receptionist. "The doctor is ready to see you now."

I lift from my chair and follow the nurse that has appeared. She stops in front of a door and hands me a little container, asking for a urine sample. I take the little cup with shaking hands, but the nurse is too much in a rush to notice. After I have used the restroom, she takes it from me and I am taken to an empty room. The doctor appears and gives a friendly introduction. He begins to ask me questions about my health lately. The doctor is an old man, his hair whiter than any hair I ever saw. The dark eyes behind glasses look sincere, but he is so oblivious to what the results of this test will do to me. The doctor leaves the room to retrieve the data.

It isn't until I'm waiting for results of my test that the dangers of having a baby down on me. I mean truly down on me. I don't think I have been so scared in years.

"According to the results…" the elderly doctor enters and pauses while he reads the clipboard. My heart begins to beat rapidly and I'm trembling again. The doctor takes notice. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"I- I'm just… nervous. That's all," I say as solidly as I can. I try to put on a fake smile.

The doctor nods and looks to his clip board again. "Congratulations, you are pregnant."

No.

"There are no doctors specified in this sort of thing here, so I recommend…" The doctor babbles on and I can barely get myself to hear any of it. I only nod occasionally after he finishes a sentence, but my emotions are building up dangerously high, and I just want to get out of here.

"Thank you very much, I'll set up an appointment later," I say in a rush. "I- I need to get home." I walk out the room, and don't look back until I'm away from the hospital. Tears are threatening to fall, so I wipe my eyes and continue on until I am in same empty hallway Gale and I were in earlier. I realize that this isn't the best place for privacy, so I quickly make my way back to the room Peeta and I are staying in. Fortunately, nobody stops me and I make it there without being seen by anybody I know. I unlock the door, enter, shut it with a lock, and let myself slide down the wall to the floor. It's now safe to release all the sobs I was suppressing at the doctor's.

I know for certain I am pregnant, but I don't have a plan. I do not know how to take care of it. How can I plan for the inevitable moment of when my child is taken away from me? It's going to happen somehow, somewhere, at any time. This depresses my mood so much that I choose to stay in my curled up position in bed. Eventually I fall asleep.

…

"Katniss?"

I open my eyes and see Peeta just entering our room.

"I've been looking for you. You missed dinner."

"Oh, did I?" I say my throat feeling rough. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

He sits on the side of the bed and moves the hair away from my forehead. "Are you feeling sick?" he asks. He hands me a roll from his pocket.

I lift to a sitting position and take the roll. "Just a little nauseous," I say. I take bite of roll, because I still am hungry.

"Maybe you should see one of the doctors here."

"I did," I say quickly. " I… actually went today and it's nothing serious. It's only temporary." I am not completely lying to him. I finish the roll in a few more bites.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" he asks with a grin. He takes out an apple from this pocket and holds it out.

I take it and put a bite into it. "Thanks."

"No prob." He leans and kisses me on the forehead and then gets up. "I guess I'll get ready for bed." He walks off into the restroom.

Guilt overcomes me at the moment, and I'm battling with myself if it wise to tell Peeta now. I sort of want to tell him, but I wish I could just contain this mess myself. If something happens… he'll be devastated if he knew, but if I only knew I could save him the pain.

Peeta comes back, and I quickly get and get dressed into my sleeping attire like nothing is wrong. In the bathroom as I wash my face I look at my stomach in the mirror. A place my hand on the spot where our child is supposed to be. How long could I keep it a secret?

I get into bed with Peeta and he casually wraps an arm around me. I feel his steady beat in his chest and I begin to wonder if the baby has its own heart beating right now. This makes me feel worse as I imagine a heartbeat ceasing like it never started in the first place. My child's heart ceasing.

I don't want to cry again- it's the hormones- so I turn my head and kiss him on the jaw, hoping it will distract me from my inner turmoil. My eyes are squeezed shut to prevent tears, but I feel him return one on my cheek. His hand is moving hair from my face.

"Katniss?" he whispers. I decide I have to open my eyes. Hopefully he can't tell they're glistening from the dim light coming from outside.

"What is it?" I ask.

After seconds of just looking at each other he smiles. "Nothing. I just wanted to see your eyes."

"Why?" I ask confused.

"Because," he says. "As lovely as they are when you're sleeping, they're even more beautiful when they're like… this." He smiles again and this creates a small smile of my own.

"Mine? You've obviously never looked close enough in the mirror," I safe softly.

"Why thank you, but I much rather be looking into yours than mine," he says.

"Alright, shut yours and go to sleep." Although I don't want to sleep.

"What about…" he begins and then he presses lips to mine, and my eyes close. It's warm and gentle, and it lasts long enough for me to put my hands on his chests. I slowly break away, and then regret the loss of touch. Being lost in this with him is so much better than facing the reality that I'm stuck with.

I place a hand to his face and let myself lead this one. This time I let it go deeper and he returns it the same way. His hands are my back and it is so comforting and wonderful, that I try to make it last. But he parts this time and gives a small kiss on the nose.

"As much as I love being with you like this, we should go to sleep," he says almost disappointedly.

"Yeah," I say. "Big day tomorrow."

We go back to our original positions and I try to stray away from thoughts of how wrong it is for me to be keeping this secret from him.

The following morning we head to the Nut, same as always. I do pretty well of a job of forgetting what I was so worried up about. What was I worried about? The fact that I'm… No, don't remember. I could do so much better in training and work if I'm not thinking about it. This strategy would have been helpful three years ago, but back then there was a lot more to try to forget.

When Peeta and I are in storage, transferring boxes of cans to the kitchens, Johanna appears out of the blue. She begins to help us without a greeting and we both play along. It isn't until we finished loading boxes on carts that Johanna finally speaks.

"We've got a job," she says simply.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I overheard Verges talking over with some guy about possibly going to the Capitol with a team. To, you know, shut it down from the inside."

"Yes, I remember Verges telling us this at our last meeting, but they said it couldn't be done unless there was some sort of distraction."

"Well, they don't need a distraction anymore. They've got one."

"What is it?" asks Peeta.

"If I heard right, it's around election day."

"Isn't that a bit late?" says Peeta. "Rosalind could have the election by then, or she might try to get rid of Paylor."

"Well, this is what I heard, and using my logic I would reason that Rosalind wouldn't try to knock out Paylor," says Johanna. Peeta and I wait for her explanation. "If she did, everyone would know she's really a dictator. Nobody would choose her! Seriously guys, you're sometimes not as smart as you look."

"That's the reason why they're waiting until then?" Peeta asks.

"I don't know. I told you that's my reasoning. Not everyone is smart like Johanna," she says.

"_Of course_," he adds.

"I'm just telling you from what I know. They're planning something for that day and I'm pretty sure we're going to be a part of it. We'll finally stop those evil bastards." Johanna says.

I would have be glad to hear this news earlier, because it means we could put a stop to this organization's mess and I could find my sister. This exactly what I wanted, but it's too late to be happy. Because that little thing I tried to forget about is edging back into my mind, and it's difficult to ignore it. If I went on this, I would be going with… child.

"I don't know exactly when Verges plans to inform us on this, but God I hope it's soon. You guys keep quiet until then. I mean that's obvious, right? This is some secret shit going on here."

"Got it," says Peeta.

Johanna looks to me. "Yeah, not a word," I say.

"I'll leave you to your cans then," she says. "I got important stuff to do." She exits storage and Peeta and I are left to push the heavy carts to the kitchen . We don't speak about what was said, just to follow Johanna's instructions. Peeta asks about other things like how the weather must be like in Twelve and what our home must look like since our long absence.

I only nod and "yup" every few sentences to make sure he knows I'm listening.

"…Twelve must have the same climate as here. They're both near mountains," Peeta says. "I heard there's a going to be a snow storm tonight. You think there could be one in Twelve?"

"Maybe," I say.

"Yeah, let's hope Buttercup isn't caught in it and blown away," he says humorously.

I shrug, but I'm smiling.

…

_My father goes to the little fireplace and picks the wood to move it toward the flame. I watch the flames a distance from my seat on the floor, because he won't let me get too close. The loud gust and whistling of the wind blows around our little house, and I see it rustling the trees outside like they're trying to shake off their limbs. Suddenly a limb snaps, causing a bang when it hits the fence outside. Little Prim cries out from the noise, and my mother wraps her tighter in her arms and comforts her before she starts to cry. I bring my knees close to me and tuck in my chin._

"_It's just the wind, Katniss," my father informs me. "Nature is just taking its course, and soon it will end. It naturally does this, so we don't have to be afraid of it." _

_He smiles warmly at me, and I nod my head. He puts down the pick, hoists me up, and places me on his lap while he takes a seat next to Mother. I see Prim upset from the scary noises, and I take her little hand. _

"_It's okay Prim."_

_She watches me and only sniffles._

_Another loud gust of wind blows. This one is so strong it breaks the window. The glass shatters and aims its own glass arrows at us. The wind blows into the house, surrounding us in frigid cold air that sting just like the glass._

I yell for it to stop… and then I wake up, sitting up in bed. My whole body is shivering and I realize I'm not in my house. I see Peeta is next to the only window our room, struggling to shut it. It must have opened during the night from the storm outside. He manages to shut it leaving the room with the lingering cold from the wind that got in.

"Are you okay?" he asks rushing to the side of my bed. "I woke up with the wind coming inside and went to shut it, and then you were yelling."

"I just woke up from a dream," I say. "The sudden wind startled me. That's all." I'm still shivering slightly, and Peeta doesn't take long to notice and wrap his arms around me. I wrap my arms around his upper back and let my head lay on his shoulder.

We spend the rest of the night tightly huddled to keep warm. The wind blows loudly against the glass of the window.

_Nature is just taking its course, and soon it will end._

There's an important meeting with Verges and I have good idea what it's going to be about. Peeta and I walk along with Haymitch to the meeting, who decides to just sit in on it. Johanna told him about what she heard too, but he doubts he'll be able to go on this mission.

"Good morning!" Effie shouts good-naturedly.

"Hey Effie," says Peeta. He's the only one who returns a real greeting.

"Why Katniss, you don't look so well."

"Thanks Effie," I say sarcastically.

"We had a little trouble sleeping with the storm," says Peeta.

"Oh, I see," she says. "Well let's hope Verges' news puts you in a better mood." Effie's smile is foreshadowing, and I thought I knew what it was…

"You'll be going to the Capitol on election day," says Verges, "as yourselves. Victors."

My first thought is, how is this going to lighten mood?

"It appears, before the election, Rosalind is sending out invitations to a sort of conference for victors, those who she thinks are important, and her supporters. She wants to have a private conference with only these, in hope to share her ideas influence you."

"Sounds fishy," Haymitch says.

"Right, but she wants to appear like she isn't behind the murders, meaning she won't try anything forceful or violent. It will be televised, and I can assure you that each one of you will have your security."

"Why do you want us to go?" Johanna asks.

"She's releasing information not before released on her tour. She's inviting victors so she can persuade them to see how _well_ she plans to rule. Hopefully become supporters. Which is not going to happen, but you could get some valuable information."

"When is this?" I ask.

"The day before elections."

I was sort of expecting some kind of disguised secret mission to blow up the organization. "What about the inside mission into the headquarters?"

"Oh yes," Verges says. "That we're sort of planning a few days before then. This will not affect your attendance of the conference for we are sending some soldiers. If all goes well, they shouldn't know of break-in until days after. Maybe even the day of the election."

"You have to let us join them," I say.

Verges raises an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"You said you would allow us to go this mission as long as we concealed who we were. Just like in District 11." Maybe that wasn't the best thing to bring up.

"I also promised to keep you safe and this mission isn't necessary for you to go on."

"What? I've been waiting months for this!" Johanna says. "What is unnecessary is for you to keep us hidden away in here all the time. We've trained, we've passed our courses. I think we are completely able to go on this mission."

Verges gets her thinking look. She talks in a low voice to a man sitting beside her and he answers in the same way. She looks back at Johanna. "I'm considering it. There is a likely chance that you, Soldier Mellark, and Everdeen will be joined into the group, but," she says. "You understand what you are risking when you take up this task, right?"

"Yes, "Johanna says for all of us.

"Fine, you all can leave now. I'll have the official plan tomorrow morning."

Johanna turns and gives a slight nod in my and Peeta's direction. As we turn to leave I see Gale leaning against the back wall of the room. He looks at me suspiciously, and I have to remember that he's the only one who thinks I _might _be pregnant. I keep a straight face as I pass him, so maybe he'll think I'm not, and that I don't want to talk about it.

I'm seriously making things worse. What am I doing?

* * *

**It's vacation and I do have more time to write. YAY. I've got some of next chapter written and I'm kind of expecting it to be all Prim's POV. It should be up soon though. This writing thing sure is getting tough, BUT I AM GOING TO FINISH IT! **

**So I hope you liked it. Leave any suggestions, comments, lovely opinions, and if you're just reading this story... Well thanks for choosing mine and don't forget story alert! (silly, I know, but I forget sometimes) Thank you for past reviewers! You guys are the best!**

**Oh I almost forgot. A while ago, a guest reviewer accused me of this story's idea or plot being taken from another writer's on the sister site that uploads original stories. I ASSURE YOU, I did not steal this idea. Similar stuff is coincidence. This is an HG fic and I've never even been on the other site. I apologize for the confusion.**

**I'm done.**

**- cheezebuns**


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